Obama backs French growth ideas vs. German austerity.

[pampango]

Obama endorses French ideas ahead of EU summit

US leader Barack Obama has effectively taken France's side against Germany in the EU debate on the financial crisis. Speaking to press in off-the-cuff remarks after a Nato summit in Chicago on Monday (21 May), he endorsed three ideas championed by France on how to stop Greek contagion and how to prevent recession from bringing down Italy or Spain: a massive EU bail-out fund; lower interest rates; and an EU-level strategy on growth.

Without naming names, he also criticised Germany's step-by-step way of handling developments so far. "Acting forcefully rather than in small, bite-sized pieces and increments, I think, ends up being a better approach," he noted.

(Newly elected French Socialist Francois) Hollande has threatened to block ratification of the Merkel-inspired EU fiscal discipline treaty unless she agrees to a new growth strategy alongside austerity measures.

The German Chancellor has opposed French proposals to increase the EU bail-out fund or "firewall" to a size big enough to cope with an Italian or Spanish meltdown. She has also ruled out French ideas on changing the mandate of the European Central Bank to stimulate growth with "monetary" policy on lower borrowing costs from its current remit of keeping down inflation.

http://euobserver.com/19/116333

Hollande and Obama have a better plan for dealing with the euro crisis than Merkel has.

[ProSense]

1. Wonder if this

would be more popular here if he had taken Germany's side?

This is good news.

[Egalitarian Thug]

2. Economics combined with foreign is a sure-fire way to guarantee obscurity. n/t

[ProSense]

3. Yeah, but we stand with the people of France, right? n/t

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. Don't know all the details, but generally, yes. n/t

[qb]

5. My French Socialist friends said that even though Obama is seen as somewhat centrist by US standards

his views are generally in line with French Socialist ideals.