Main focus of Monday, October 10, 2011

Merkel and Sarkozy plan bank bailout

Germany and France want to protect Europe's banks. That was the message announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Sunday in Berlin, without mentioning any details. Yet another fruitless meeting, some commentators complain, while others praise the political dynamism of Europe's leadership duo.

La Repubblica - Italy

The Franco-German summit held on Saturday evening in Berlin has once again failed to produce concrete results, writes the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "Yet another Franco-German summit ends with weighty but vague promises. But perhaps this vagueness is the price the Merkel and Sarkozy duo must pay for attempting to play a leading role in the European Union for which they lack both the necessary powers and, it would appear, also the skills. After two years of steering the European ship through the financial storm the results of the Franco-German course are rather mediocre. Merkel may bear the largest portion of the blame for the delays and the major blunders but in his role of servile cavalier to the chancellor the French president also shares responsibility." (10/10/2011)

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Les Echos - France

The German-French plans for a bank bailout are insufficient, writes the liberal business paper Les Echos: "After 18 months of trial and error, the time of half-measures finally seems to belong to the past. At least the two driving forces of the EU are showing a political will. Nevertheless caution is called for. ... Merely introducing a plan for restructuring the banks does not mean the end of the crisis. On the contrary, it would be inefficient and costly because it would only provide a short breather. ... As long as the Greek insolvency continues and Italy's finances are not put in order long-term confidence cannot be restored in the Eurozone. Such a plan would also be costly because in choosing to bailout its banks as a first step, Europe would put itself at the mercy of the markets. ... The countdown has started. Europe has three weeks to find a recipe for success." (10/10/2011)

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Expansión - Spain

With their announcement of plans to stabilise the European banks Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy are finally pressing ahead in the fight against the European debt crisis, the liberal business daily Expansión writes jubilantly: "Historically Germany and France have played a key role in the creation of the European Union. And as the summit between the two countries indicates, they are not willing to relinquish that role. This is good news. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy agreed yesterday to finally make a decisive move to save Europe. ... And they want to do this before the G20 summit scheduled for early November in Cannes. Why this deadline? Everything points to the European politicians wanting to arrive at the meeting with their homework completed so as to avoid embarrassing rebukes from Obama." (10/10/2011)

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Bild - Germany

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy intend to present a plan on protecting Europe's banks by the end of October. But the state's support to banks must not be unconditional, writes the tabloid Bild: "The bottom line is that the governments are stepping in to save the banks like they did after the Lehman bankruptcy. But the only ones to bear the risk are the taxpayers. It's scandalous that the 'gentlemen in pinstripes' have once again gambled themselves into a corner. No one forced the bankers to buy Greek bonds. But the profits were tempting - and greed outweighed common sense. For that reason the state should only come to the rescue under one condition: it must make the banks pay for its help as soon as they can. If you take a risk and lose, you've got to bear the consequences. It's high time the bankers learned that too." (10/10/2011)

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All available articles from » Hugo Müller-Vogg

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