There probably hasn’t been a meeting of European finance ministers as important as the
one tonight. The euro is still at risk; with new governments in Spain, Italy, and Greece incapable of calming the markets, and Angela Merkel unwilling to let the ECB act. In a speech in Berlin,
Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski put it clearly: ‘I fear German power less than I am beginning to fear German inactivity.’ It is a fear shared in London and Paris as well.
The 17 finance ministers will discuss the range of options on the table: from setting up an EU Treasury to the possibility of eurobonds or establishing a supra-national process to monitor national budgets. As Thomas Klau, a Euro expert, told me: ‘Foreign investors are beginning to lose faith in the eurozone’s ability to survive its first big crisis.
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