End of Merkozy Leaves Franco-German Gulf as Greek Voters Rebel
Voters in Greece and France challenged austerity as Europe’s sole prescription for the financial crisis, adding pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to broaden her focus from debt reduction to save the 17-nation bloc.
Greek elections left the two biggest parties short of the clear majority to keep bailout efforts there on track. In France, Socialist Francois Hollande defeated President Nicolas Sarkozy, Merkel’s preferred partner for enforcing fiscal rigor.
“Europe is watching us,” Hollande, 57, told supporters in the central town of Tulle 90 minutes after his victory was announced. “The mission is now mine, to give European construction a growth dimension. That’s what I’ll tell our partners as soon as possible.”
Germany and France, whose leadership in fighting the crisis that began in Greece in 2009 gave rise to the partnership known as “Merkozy,” don’t have much time to patch up rifts between Merkel and Hollande. “To get anything done in Europe, Germany and France have to agree,” said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in London.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-06/end-of-merkozy-forces-germany-to-deal-with-hollande-on-crisis.html
