France loses influence

The downgrading of France by rating agency Standard & Poor's gives Germany another massive boost and makes the euro bailout operation even trickier, in the opinion of the liberal business paper Hospodárske noviny: "Germany is the only European country whose rating wasn't downgraded and whose prospects are at the same time estimated to be stable. But not only that: this gives Germany even more political clout. The balance of power in Europe has shifted further against France's interests. This will have repercussions on the political situation there. The loss of France's top grading could mean the end of Sarkozy's dreams of another presidency. His socialist adversary Hollande makes no bones about his criticism of Europe's crisis management. Unity and efficiency in resolving the problems of the Eurozone are now likely to diminish even further."

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