Until today the European project has been holding together the Paris-Berlin axis, co-editor Günther Nonnenmacher writes in the conservative Sunday paper Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung: "The German parties were supporters of a European confederation right up to the 1980s. The French politicians by contrast could never imagine anything more than a 'Europe of nations'. The current dispute in which, simply put, Germany is preaching austerity while the French government wants to boost growth with public spending, is ultimately a subdivision of these contrasting views. … France needs Europe (and the privileged partnership with Germany) because otherwise, despite its elevated status as a nuclear power and permanent member of the UN Security Council, its ambition to play a key role in global politics would lack a material basis. Germany for its part needs Europe (and its privileged partner France) because it is in the unpleasant position of effectively being a central power in Europe but not wanting to play the part. … A political deal between Paris and Berlin is always a tightrope walk between the North and the South, the East and the West of the EU; between centralised and federally organised states." (05/05/2013)

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Germany has been accused by many of aspiring to gain a new position of dominance in Europe with the aid of stringent austerity dictates. Columnist Derek Scally rejects this theory in the left-liberal Irish Times: "The German hegemony argument tends to overlook how much ground Berlin has already conceded. Initial Berlin resistance to bailouts gave way to conditional aid and then agreement to break the link between sovereign and private debt and to allowing bank recapitalisations from the ESM bailout fund. As with each previous concession, the bank recapitalisation deal was festooned with conditions. But a concession to mutual liability in Europe is a long way from the euro zone German politicians told their voters they were joining... The idea of German hegemony overlooks how Berlin enjoys varying levels of support in the crisis from Finland, the Netherlands and Austria. Regular backing has come, too, from Sweden, Poland and Denmark - admittedly none of which are euro zone members." (05/05/2013)

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Who's saying what » Germany's controversial role in the crisis

Queen Beatrix relinquished her crown to her son Willem-Alexander on Tuesday. Pope Benedict, too, recently made room for a successor. The British public should allow Queen Elizabeth to do the same, columnist David Aaronovitch writes in the conservative daily The Times: "Do we really expect and want the Queen to go on waving, visiting and Queen's Speeching until she literally dies? Must she continue what-do-you-do-ing through any chronic illness or debility? Advanced old age is an inescapable story of growing decrepitude, fatigue and pain. Elizabeth should not feel obliged by us to work on through it. ... In mid-July the Queen's latest great-grandchild will be born, the heir to the heir to the heir to the throne. It would not be a bad moment for her to tell us that she would now like to spend more time, deservedly, with her horses, corgis and great-grandchildren. Probably in that order." (01/05/2013)

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Last week the French parliament passed a controversial law on gay marriage. Soon all Europe will have to deal with this topic, journalist Paulius Gritėnas writes in the web portal lrytas.lt: "It's obvious that the question of the rights of homosexual couples will soon reach other European states that are far less experienced in guaranteeing civil and human rights. And it promises to meet with fierce resistance from the guardians of morals and tradition. ... It's all too easy to imagine what a storm of indignation the discussion of such a law in Poland or other countries with a strong Christian tradition would trigger. ... But to continue postponing the issue is hardly justifiable. One of the best analogies is the subject of slavery. Today it's hard to imagine that for centuries slavery was considered the basis of economic progress and that people were convinced that abolishing it would be detrimental and unjustified and cause major social problems." (28/04/2013)

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