Plan Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy to unify economic policies in European Union member states feared some.
Historic shift in Berlin to the European Union, which last Friday made Chancellor Angela Merkel, by all accounts, could mark a new step towards the creation of a European superstate. Merkel, supported by French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed a plan to introduce stricter rules in the common economic policy, 17 members of the eurozone.
After years of opposition from Germany to establish a common European economic and fiscal policy, Merkel and Sarkozy are on the table a plan that would put all euro zone countries had to agree on a border to go into retirement, introducing a flat tax for large corporations, harmonize salaries in the public sector, abolish automatic wage increases, to limit public spending and to harmonize social security schemes, with the possible introduction of sanctions for countries that violate the new rules. Moreover, it is envisaged to limit public debt of all eurozone countries entered into their national constitutions.
In exchange for this plan, Germany and France would have agreed to increase EU funds for financial assistance to members of smoke into debt, such as Greece and Ireland. However, Merkel stressed that the agreement of the said measures must be agreed in March to Berlin has given money for a larger aid package.
The move represents a revolutionary shift Merkel's Berlin, which could in several areas that affect the future of the entire EU. First, drastically deepened the gap between the mainstream in the EU and the United Kingdom, that does not want too many financial and economic authorities are transferred to the EU level.
While Merkel does not want to Poland and Britain, who are not members of the eurozone, are neglected in the decision-making on economic policy throughout the European family, the new rules that it proposes will inevitably lead to a much more integrated EU, which would effectively have a kind of European economic government.
This would address what the father of European economic and monetary union Jacques Delors called a "systemic error", or the fact that there is no common economic and fiscal policies of EU countries eurozone past one another competition, and economic "shirking" one country inevitably all others.
However, appeals to the German-French plan has come not only from the troubled economy is prosperous but also the euro. Italian horror is already making rules for the punishment of heavily indebted countries precisely because Rome greatly exceeds the rule that member states may have budget deficits to three percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and public debt to 60 percent of GDP.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has said that "Europe is not ready for the harmonization of tax rates" and "impossible to reach agreement on such matters until the end of next month."
On the other hand, Belgium, Luxembourg and Spain are frantically against linking wage increases to certain indexes, and Austria does not want to increase the age for retirement. Greeks fear the idea of changing the national constitution which would set limits for public debt, while the Irish at any cost do not want to give up their low taxes for corporations.
In contrast, the "Pact for Competitiveness" Angela Merkel wants to redirect the entire EU to German success rate. Chancellor is not accepted practice by the new estimate of analysts that such economically the Divided EU can hardly keep up in global competition with China, India and Brazil.
Of course, critics of this proposal argue that Europe does not need more German, but more cooperation and unity. Specifically, critics point out that the German economic model relies on a permanent trade surplus, and Germany with their goods and services flooding the neighboring state and local unemployment shifts the burden of others. This, in their opinion, can not be copied and used in other EU countries.
In addition, the application of the new rules would inevitably lead to a change of the Lisbon Treaty which was ratified with great difficulty a little over a year ago.
However, the global crisis is well shaken Europe, questioning the survival of European unity. Berlin, by all accounts, not giving up on Europe. History of the EU has shown that it is sometimes enough for large steps.
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