Apologies for the somewhat crude headline based on an old English song but my grumpiness is well-founded, as you will see if you read on. First of all my thanks to 'SoD' for pointing me to this article in Spiegel yesterday which, due the pressure of "events, dear boy events" , I might have missed. If, like me, you find yourself raging against the imbecilic follies of the Euro-fanatics then this is a MUST READ article. However, if you have blood pressure problems then better you stick to this synopsis.
At last, and I don't quite know how, a whole raft of government documents have been released by the German government covering the period from about 1990 up to the introduction of the euro in 1998. They show, without a shadow of a doubt, that Chancellor Kohl was made fully aware, indeed, he was warned over and over again, that Italy was lying and cheating on its economic data in order to gain entry to the proposed new euro currency. Kohl, whose stupidity had already been demonstrated by his inept economic handling of German re-unification which placed enormous strains on the West Germans, was the main driving force behind the idea of a monetary union which must include the 'founding six' nations including Italy (my emphases throughout):
In response to a request by SPIEGEL, the German government has, for the first time, released hundreds of pages of documents from 1994 to 1998 on the introduction of the euro and the inclusion of Italy in the euro zone. They include reports from the German embassy in Rome, internal government memos and letters, and hand-written minutes of the chancellor's meetings.
The documents prove what was only assumed until now: Italy should never have been accepted into the common currency zone. The decision to invite Rome to join was based almost exclusively on political considerations at the expense of economic criteria. It also created a precedent for a much bigger mistake two years later, namely Greece's acceptance into the euro zone.
To be fair to Kohl, which I am not inclined to be, much of his motivation appeared to be a fervent wish for Germany to appease for past wrongs and to be seen as a team player for 'Europe United'! For me personally, when it comes to politicians, give me a Machiavellian realist over a dreamy idealist any day of the week:
Instead of waiting until the economic requirements for a common currency were met, Kohl wanted to demonstrate that Germany, even after its reunification, remained profoundly European in its orientation. He even referred to the new currency as a "bit of a peace guarantee."
Of course, financial data doesn't play much of a role when it comes to war and peace. Italy became a perfect example of the steadfast belief of politicians that economic development would eventually conform to the visions of national leaders.
To which one can only reply with the age-old question, when will they ever learn? There is no excuse for Kohl's wilful stupidity because everybody and his uncle was telling him that Italy was nowhere near ready to comply with the financial criteria required of entrants to the new monetary union. Even the Dutch government sent two representatives to Germany to state quite baldly that Italy was unfit to join and that the Dutch would not agree to it. Needless to say , they had their arms twisted up their backs ("Ve haf veys of making you agree!") and they swallowed their objections. Almost every single senior politican and economic expert in Germany knew that Italy was cheating and said so in private but when it came to the vote only one man had the guts to say "Nein". He was Kurt Biedenkopf and he deserves a big statue in every German town:
Kurt Biedenkopf, a member of the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), predicted the dilemma in which the monetary union finds itself today even before the introduction of the euro. At the time, Biedenkopf was governor of the eastern state of Saxony -- and was the only German governor to vote against the monetary union in the Bundesrat, the legislative body that represents the German states. "Europe wasn't ready for that epochal step," says Biedenkopf today, noting that the individual countries differed too widely in terms of economic performance. "Most politicians in Germany thought that the euro would function even without common institutions and without financial transfers. That was naïve."
Now, of course, our European leaders are learning the hard way never to shit in a wind tunnel but their probable course of action will be the worst of all choices:
The euro is now in its 14th year, and after two years of ongoing crisis, there is a growing realization in Berlin and other capitals that the status quo cannot continue. All reform efforts still resemble small steps to nowhere, and yet politicians are beginning to think in terms of broader categories as they cope with the crisis. The new fiscal pact is not providing a quick solution yet, and as a result European politicians are developing new visions while old taboos are falling.
While the southern countries and France are coming to terms with a debt brake based on the German model, the German government no longer has any objections to an economic government within the euro zone, a French idea to which Germany was once staunchly opposed. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, for his part, is considering upgrading the EU finance commissioner to a kind of European finance minister, who would monitor the budgets of euro-zone member states and would also have the power to intervene, if necessary.
All of these measures boil down to individual countries relinquishing more authority and the central government in Brussels acquiring more power in return.
About 15 years ago I began to write a play based on a 'tragic hero' figure who was the commander of a European Union interrogation centre, part of the security apparat run by the EU which was struggling to deal with an extreme nationalist anti-EU terrorist organisation executing atrocities all across Europe. I never finished it but I think I might revisit it and perhaps turn it into a book. Then, after I'm dead and it all comes 'true' everyone will remember my prescient genius instead of my boring blog!
I urge you all to read the Spiegel article.
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