Wall Street Journal
October 25, 2011
German Chancellor Angela Merkel could face another showdown with euro rebels in her coalition when parliament votes Wednesday on plans to boost the firepower of the euro-zone bailout fund, potentially weakening the chancellor in already difficult negotiations with European Union leaders at a summit planned for Wednesday evening.
As European officials rushed to thrash out the details of a comprehensive response to the euro zone debt crisis by Wednesday, opponents of any further euro-zone bailouts within Ms. Merkel's coalition of Christian Democrats, Bavarian Christian Social Union and pro-business Free Democrats were trying to muster enough opposition to rob Ms. Merkel of a majority within her own coalition.
The situation in Berlin is almost a repeat of events leading up to the vote on Sept. 29 to expand the European Financial Stability Facility, the euro-zone's bailout fund, and grant it new powers to make it more flexible. The renewed tension over leveraging the EFSF demonstrates clearly that it is increasingly difficult for Ms. Merkel to agree to any new bailouts and that the crisis response in Europe has become unwieldy with Ms. Merkel needing approval from German parliament for each incremental change in the basic crisis plan.
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