Merkel's crisis management destroys EU

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has cancelled the government declaration she had announced for the EU summit on Sunday at the last minute. The conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung fears this does not bode well for the meeting: "The concern that the whole edifice could collapse no longer seems so exaggerated. What a disaster that would be! Even if Europe's crisis managers do reach a consensus soon, which would be highly desirable, the political collateral damage of these crisis years is by no means trivial: not only the Germans have lost their trust in the euro and the European project, but also many citizens in other countries. If the common currency is dragged further into the debt maelstrom we no longer need bother discussing how to preserve the EU's standing - it would be lost. One thing is clear: the longer this crisis lasts, the bigger the bailouts required of the already overtaxed MPs and citizens will be - and the larger the number of those everywhere who turn their back on Europe."

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