Robert Toulemon
Former official at the European Commission, he wrote Aimer l’Europe, an essay published in 2007.
Federalists have always maintained that the European monetary union will remain fragile as long as it is not matched with a political union. The current crisis provides a spectacular demonstration of this. Solutions to the crisis, if they are to be sustainable, need to show a concomitant reinforcement of discipline and solidarity within a reinforced political union.
Weaknesses of a Currency without a State
After the Greek crisis, the one which Ireland is now going through represents the greatest challenge facing the European currency since its inception. The creators of the euro thought they could compensate for the absence of a state and federal budget by way of a “pact of stability and growth”. While the treaty excluded bailing out countries in difficulty, markets have long considered the Euro Zone as a comprehensive whole. All countries have benefited from advantageous credit conditions, close to those granted to Germany. Certainly, the weaker elements of the pact could have prompted a degree of scepticism: Italy and Belgium were admitted even though their debt level far surpassed the 60% of GDP limit, the statistics coming from Greece were dubious, but most importantly in 2005 the zone’s two main economies, Germany and France, obtained a softening of the pact which exonerated them of any financial sanctions for running excessive deficits.
