Thursday, 20th May 2010
Euro crisis heralds German-led EU superstate
The financial woes afflicting the Eurozone will be used by German policymakers to push their dream for a European superstate, a Scottish MEP has warned.
Scots Tory MEP Struan Stevenson argued that, following the bailout of Greece and the establishment of a 750 billion euro safety net to prop up debt-laden nations using the single currency, the German government was increasingly throwing its weight around.
This was typified this week by their knee-jerk ban on naked short selling of government bonds in Germany itself. And although the unilateral move backfired disastrously, the Germans will be pushing for full fiscal union throughout the Eurozone as payback for their shouldering of most of the bailout cash.
In an interview today (Thursday), German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble spelt out Germany’s desire for a superstate as a natural progression from the single currency: “When we introduced the Euro in the 1990s, Germany wanted a political union and France did not.
“Political union naturally means a bit of federalism in the German sense of federal. It means one can no longer take certain decisions at a national level. That is very hard for the UK.
“It’s often not so simple for France, but France finds it easier to take European decisions.”
Mr Stevenson said:
“Germany’s bizarre ban on naked short selling completely missed the target – shocking the markets while doing nothing to alleviate the real problem of too much government debt in Eurozone countries.
“Clearly, the Germans were expecting other EU nations to dance to their tune and are no doubt enraged that others, including France, have chosen to ignore them.
“It’s make or break time for the Eurozone, with the tensions exposed by this crisis threatening to tear the single currency apart.
“My hunch is European leaders will not risk a market meltdown and bow to German pressure for full fiscal union – with Brussels and the European Central Bank in Frankfurt having the final say on state tax and spending plans across the Eurozone.
“It will then be just a short step towards a federal EU superstate, with Berlin calling the shots.
“This crisis has shown us exactly why Britain must remain financially independent, as this is the only way we can ensure we are not sucked into a ‘United States of Europe’ that nobody wants.”
The interview with Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German Finance Minister, was published in the Financial Times on Thursday, May 20.
