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27 November 2013

Graham Bishop's Blog: The Grand Coalition in Germany - Some implications


Finally, the two major German parties signed their coalition agreement – in just short of 200 pages with only 10 pages on Europe.

Curiously, about 100,000 members of the losing party have a veto on the agreement due to the SPD commitment to put it to a vote of its membership. This author has a particular interest in the statements made about `pooling’ of debt given his membership of the Commission’s Expert Group on Debt Redemption Funds and Eurobills. The key text seems to be "Any form of pooling of sovereign debt would jeopardise the necessary alignment of national policies in each Member State. National budget responsibility and supranational, joint liability are incompatible."

However, the Temporary Eurobill Fund (TEF) (link to Summary) proposal of this author remains in play as it is not a joint liability, and explicitly encourages Member States to align their economic policies with the `Country Specific Recommendations’ that the European Council approves. Moreover, exclusion from the TEF would be a massive sanction against deviation. All participants remain completely liable to the Fund for their own borrowings from it.

Graham Bishop clients: more

Rolling Blog

Graham Bishop - Consultant on EU Integration - Political, Financial, Economic, Budgetary



© Graham Bishop


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