The Sunday evening deadline imposed on the European Union by the G20 to resolve their never-ending financial crisis has been postponed until Wednesday. Although the excuses for failing to resolve the crisis are the same, the reality is that the Bundestag would not give Merkel the authority to proceed without more information. The 5000 protesters in Frankfurt last Saturday were united in their opposition to fund any additional bailouts. With the German economy stagnating, sanity appears to be taking hold and the Bundestag is paying attention.
The response from the remaining G20 partners and financial markets should be forthcoming but time has run out on the European Union. The only viable solution to save the EU is to follow the example set by the United States: print more money.
David DeGerolamo
Debt Plan Is Delayed in Europe
FRANKFURT — The grand plan is on pause.
Germany and France, still at odds over a more forceful response to the sovereign debt crisis, postponed a decision-making summit meeting for several days amid signs that the complexities of European politics may block an all-encompassing resolution.
The meeting planned for this weekend will still be used to examine proposals to strengthen Europe’s banks, increase the clout of the euro bailout fund, and better coordinate euro area economic policy, a spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said.
But a comprehensive plan will not be decided until a second summit meeting, set for no later than Wednesday, the spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said in a statement. The French government issued a nearly identical statement.
The last-minute delay reinforced fears that European leaders were still far from containing a crisis that threatens the world economy.
“The politicians have been trying to solve the crisis, but a consistent effort has been missing,” Andreas Dombret, a member of the executive board of Bundesbank, the German central bank, told an audience in Berlin on Thursday. It was an unusually sharp criticism for an official to make about his political counterparts.
