Europe Deeply Divided Ahead of Make-or-Break Summit

[marmar]

from Der Spiegel:



The head of Deutsche Bank is raging against politicians, Berlin is raging against Paris and the north is raging against the south. The world is expecting decisive results at this weekend's EU summit on emergency measures to shore up the euro, but the Europeans remain split. Will German Chancellor Angela Merkel finally take the lead? By SPIEGEL Staff

The script for saving the euro has already been written. The monetary union's 17 finance ministers will meet in Brussels this Friday, their counterparts from the remaining European Union countries will join them on Saturday and, finally, on Sunday the EU heads of state and government will arrive to give their blessing to the bailout package.

The most important meetings were scheduled for the weekend so that the decisions can be taken when financial markets are closed. Everyone is afraid of how the ominous markets will react.

"We will meet on Friday until trading ends on Wall Street, and we intend to be finished on Sunday before the first markets open in Asia," says the head of the euro group, Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,792229,00.html

[pampango]

1. Not only is there a North-South split, there's a left-right split as well.

Many on the right, particularly the far-right, want to see the EU weakened if not dismantled. This crisis in the Euro is an opportunity for them to further their goal.

The left in most European countries is trying to find a way through this so that the union is preserved and strengthened.