Tuesday 29 June 2010

The Germans

No not a football comment, but England Expects posts about growing disillusionment within Germany regarding the EU, specifically the Euro:
A majority of Germans wants to scrap the euro and bring back the old currency, the deutschemark, according to a new poll published on Tuesday.
The Ipsos survey showed 51 per cent of people in Europe's top economy wanted their beloved deutschemark back, with 30 per cent wanting to keep the euro. The remainder was undecided.
The Tap has this comment from Gisela Stuart:
For a generation of German politicians, "Europe" has been a way of slaying the ghosts of the past. This may be understandable, even honourable, but the results have not always been good for Germany or Europe. Chancellor Helmut Kohl overrode the Bundesbank (and the majority of Germans) in the name of "Europe" when the euro replaced the deutschmark. After barely a decade, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is facing its biggest crisis and Germany is again under pressure to come to the rescue, in the name of Europe.

In fact, in this instance, the interests of Germany and Europe are the same: Germany should leave the euro.
It's sometimes forgotten that while the British are seen as the most euro-sceptic of European nations, that Germany is not far behind. As I posted here, I worked in Germany for some years and the level of bitterness and resentment towards the EU project was surprising; in particular giving up their currency. They hated it. As Gisela Stuart suggests, the Germans want to be 'good Europeans' in order not to appear too nationalistic for obvious reasons. But with each generation the argument; 'it's not our fault what our forefathers did' gets ever stronger. This is now particularly prevalent when it comes to bailing out Greece and its pensions. They will not continue to pay the EU's bills.

The British moan and shrug their shoulders and carry on when it comes to the EU, but it will be the Germans who will more than likely upset the project first.

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