Main focus of Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Europe under pressure at G20 summit

German Chancellor Merkel spoke of an "atmosphere of partnership". (© AP/dapd)

At the summit in Mexico the G20 partners have called on Europe to resolve the debt crisis. In their final declaration the participants spoke out in favour of greater integration of the Eurozone's financial sector. Commentators consider the criticism of Europe's crisis management by the G20 partners justified and see the summit as a positive signal for the conferences scheduled for the next few weeks.

Criticism helpful for Europe

EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso has been sharply criticised for Europe's crisis management at the G20 summit in Mexico. But the harsh words are justified, writes the liberal business paper Financial Times Deutschland: "The lessons that were handed out to Europe at the G20 especially by the emerging countries - with barely suppressed glee - are understandable. Often enough in the past they have been on the receiving end of instructions and requirements from the EU. Now the Europeans must get used to this unaccustomed tone. And to the new global balance of power. It is also true, however, that it's not just the rebuked Europeans who are facing major difficulties. For the time being other states with their own set of woes - like the US - can hide behind the euro crisis. But that will change if the Eurozone really does manage to get a grip on its problems. And that, in turn, could be aided by the reprimand the Europeans received at the G20 summit. Because pressure from the outside unites in times of doubt." (20/06/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Economic Policy, » Europe, » Global, » Mexico
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

G20 summit a good start

The agreements reached among the G20 representatives in Mexico are a promising start to the summit meetings of the coming weeks, writes the liberal daily La Vanguardia: "Europe is moving. According to internal sources the EU will renegotiate the terms of the Greek bailout to make them more viable. A member of the ECB said that there may already be agreements on the banking union in the second half of the year. … These weeks of intense summit activity must produce results. The G20 has proved to be a good starting point. In these difficult times, with an obvious lack of institutions, the EU is showing that it wants greater cohesion. Germany and France have differing points of view. But the Right and Left have always coexisted in the European project. They must now learn to pull in the same direction once more." (20/06/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » EU Policy, » Fiscal Policy, » Europe, » Global, » Mexico
Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

More billions for IMF bailout fund pointless

The participants of the G20 summit decided on Tuesday to boost the bailout fund of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 456 billion dollars. The Polish law professor Robert Gwiazdowski sees this as a questionable measure and writes in an opinion piece for the conservative daily Rzeczpospolita: "Now that so much money has been wasted the international politicians are hoping for a miracle to prevent bankruptcies. … Because where is all this money to come from when everyone but the Chinese is deep in debt? Normally only a miracle could produce it! Of course, faith can move mountains. But what is this belief that countries can be satisfied just by giving them money based on? … Because according to the official biographies of the politicians, they were already dreaming of a career in politics in their school days. But apparently they didn't pay enough attention to their lessons." (20/06/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Fiscal Policy, » Global
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Who's saying what » Ways out of the debt crisis

World can get along without superpower US

Against the backdrop of the G20 summit in Mexico the conservative daily Magyar Nemzet writes that a new world order is in the making in which the US will no longer play the dominant role: "It's time to start thinking about what the world will be like without a real superpower. The expansion of the G8 to a G20 makes little sense as long as a single country determines how the world develops. … A new global balance must be found that reflects the changed world. The politicians of the most important industrialised states can of course discuss the current problems however their discourse will remain meaningless as long as a single power has all the say. The world must finally wake up to the fact that there is life after Washington. But it still doesn't seem able to do this." (20/06/2012)

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More from the press review on the subject » Global
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