The European policy of Chancellor Angela Merkel is coming increasingly under pressure. Not only European Commission President Manuel Barroso, but also Enrico Letta, recently asked by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to form the new governnnent, have criticized her austerity policies, which have been dominant in Europe and are leading to disaster. Europe’s leaders have long been at a loss. The economic situation is worsening from month to month, and unemployment has reached a level which is increasingly undermining democratic structures.
The Germans have not yet realized that the southern Europeans, including France, will in the face of the current economic misery be forced to fight back against German hegemony sooner or later. In particular, German wage dumping, which has been an infringement of the spirit of the treaties from the outset of the currency union, is putting them under pressure. Merkel will wake up from her self-righteous slumber when the countries which are suffering from German wage dumping get together to force a policy switch against the crisis at the cost of German exports. Continue reading