Across Central and Eastern Europe, the story is much the same. Governments from Hungary to Bulgaria that once clamored to join the euro club are putting plans on hold and reassessing the costs and benefits of something that used to seem inevitable. The spread of the euro was seen as part of Europe's manifest destiny, and the countries that emerged from behind the Iron Curtain saw the adoption of the currency as a potent sign of success, both political and economic. The change of heart is an ominous portent for the decades-long process of increasing European economic integration. The common currency is the centerpiece and the leading symbol of that integration. If enthusiasm wanes for the euro, boosters fear, this could spell trouble for other efforts to knit the nations of the Continent together. Moreover, economies like Poland's and the Czech Republic's are the kind that euro-zone leaders want to bring into their currency union—competitive, with low debt and strong growth prospects. It's hard to see how the bits and pieces that have been leaked so far from a draft EU statement move the ball forward for the euro. It reads more like a wish list, rather than a deal. Members WANT a fiscal compact, and so the statement "calls" for one. But that's very different than signing a deal. And yet the euro initially rallied. It WANTS to rally. There is a lot of goodwill going around. But it's not clear where the concrete action is. 
Access Investments-Building Awareness - European Union-ROMANIA
Friday, December 9, 2011
Across Central and Eastern Europe, the story is much the same. Governments from Hungary to Bulgaria that once clamored to join the euro club are putting plans on hold and reassessing the costs and benefits of something that used to seem inevitable. The spread of the euro was seen as part of Europe's manifest destiny, and the countries that emerged from behind the Iron Curtain saw the adoption of the currency as a potent sign of success, both political and economic. The change of heart is an ominous portent for the decades-long process of increasing European economic integration. The common currency is the centerpiece and the leading symbol of that integration. If enthusiasm wanes for the euro, boosters fear, this could spell trouble for other efforts to knit the nations of the Continent together. Moreover, economies like Poland's and the Czech Republic's are the kind that euro-zone leaders want to bring into their currency union—competitive, with low debt and strong growth prospects. It's hard to see how the bits and pieces that have been leaked so far from a draft EU statement move the ball forward for the euro. It reads more like a wish list, rather than a deal. Members WANT a fiscal compact, and so the statement "calls" for one. But that's very different than signing a deal. And yet the euro initially rallied. It WANTS to rally. There is a lot of goodwill going around. But it's not clear where the concrete action is. 
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What's on offer in Brussels is a fiscal union which represents different outcomes for different groups of countries. But both outcomes will be equally unpalatable for voters. In Germany, and its satellites, what's being discussed will mean vast transfers of wealth south, to support the insolvent banks and governments of the Club Med countries. For voters in these places, such as Greece, Portugal and Italy, what's on the agenda is the imposition of a new set of rules which are about to change their lives irrevocably. They will be forced to become like the north as they submit their national rights to tax and spend to outside supervision by the European Commission. Comply or be punished is the highly enticing prospect. Arriving in Brussels on Thursday, Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Council, said it was essential that national interests were set aside at the summit for the greater good of the single currency – a dig at David Cameron's threat to veto any EU-wide treaty rewrite that damages UK interests. But if Eurocrats such as Barroso think British national interests are proving an irritating diversion, he is fatally underestimating the power of national interests in countries from Spain to Slovakia which are about to be unleashed in the weeks and months to come as the detail of the new treaty starts to emerge. Until recently, contemplating the break-up of the single currency was thinking the unthinkable. Now those openly discussing it – just about everybody – are merely adopting a mainstream, orthodox view. Even Nicolas Sarkozy is warning that the risk of disintegration has never been greater.
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