Germany in the spotlight
February 26, 2012
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso has emphasized the importance of fresh aid for Greece, ahead of a vote in the German parliament on the new rescue package on Monday.
He told the German daily Die Welt that "the rescue package is designed to stabilize Greek finances and enable sustained economic growth."
He also pointed out that Germany had displayed "enormous solidarity" with its eurozone neighbors. He expressed sympathy for Germany's concerns over pumping for money into Greece, but said there "was no better alternative."
German lawmakers will vote on Monday on a package hammered out by eurozone finance ministers to give Greece a further 130 billion euros ($175 billion), to help avert a March debt default.
G20 and the firewall
Meanwhile, the G20 summit in Mexico ended on Sunday, with Germany appearing to be at least willing to discuss the size of the so-called firewall, which is designed to prevent contagion of the debt crisis.
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble told reporters that this will be reviewed during the month of March, dashing hopes that a decision could be made at the next EU summit. "But the month of March goes from March 1 to March 31. It will be reviewed again, also in the light of the developments that have since occurred, whether the stated dimension of the [European bailout] mechanism is enough or not."
Germany had so far been reluctant to boost the 500-billion-euro war chest, arguing that it "doesn't make economic sense" to simply pour more money into stricken economies, Schäuble said.
An agreement by Europe to merge its temporary and permanent bailout vehicles would create a $1-trillion firewall and open the door for other G20 countries to meet the IMF's request for $500-$600 billion in new resources, on top of its current $358 billion in funds.
In or out?
On Saturday, the first German minister publicly recommended Greece leave the eurozone, prompting the opposition to demand he be brought in line by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"You can't support Greece to the tune of 130 billion euros and demand its exit from the eurozone at the same time," Social Democrat Thomas Oppermann told Die Welt.
Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told news magazine Der Spiegel that Greece would have a better chance of recovering outside the eurozone. He is increasingly supported in this view by other Germans, according to a recent poll by the Emnid Institute for the Sunday paper Bild am Sonntag.
According to the poll, 62 percent of those asked oppose more aid for Greece, up from 53 percent in a similar poll last September.
ng/pfd (dpa, Reuters)