The Eurozone went into recession in late 2012 and there is no expectation for a quick recovering in 2013. Remarkable then that European leaders didn’t pay much attention to Europe in their New Year messages. British Prime Minister David Cameron made no reference at all in his 2013 address. He said that 2012 had been a ‘great year for the UK’ and mentioned the Queens 60th Jubilee and the Olympic Games in London. Not one word about the tensions in relations between his country and the rest of the Union.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel made little reference to the EU. She repeated what she said after the mid-December Summit: ‘the crisis is far from over’; directly contradicting her Finance Minister Schauble recent statement ‘the worst of the crisis is over’. But Mrs Merkel needs to be cautious about putting more German money in the bottomless EU pit, facing difficult elections in September.
President Hollande made one reference: ‘the Eurozone has been saved’. Referring to his time in office he added ‘this result seemed out of reach only six month ago’. The question is whether this will increase his popularity rating of 35%? Hollande’s predecessor, Sarkozy, didn’t manage a rating that low during his Presidency.
Let’s end with Poland, a former communist member state, showing one of the best economies in the EU. President Komorowski told that despite the Eurozone crisis, 2012 had been a good year for his country. He didn’t mention the EU money Poland, by far the biggest net-debtor, received: an amount higher than creditor states Germany and the Netherlands had to pay together. Perhaps this has something to do with the state of the Polish economy…
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
By: N. Peter Kramer
