Yesterday Merkel and Sarkozy stood by the plan that they launched to the public on Monday. It includes clear proposals such as automatic sanctions for countries with runaway debt and deficit problems, a lasting bailout process for the year 2012 and other courses of action.
The Merkozy duo asserted themselves against some anonymous pessimist commentary that circulated throughout the day, which seemed to come from somebody close to the German government who became discouraged about the results of today and tomorrow?s summit should some nations not agree to the plan.
Sarkozy and Merkel stood firm against protests from Herman Van Rompuy, who not only insisted on the possibility that nations would not back the latest EU bailout plan, but added another possibility to the long list of initiatives: the European recovery fund could be doubled next year. It was surprising that the president of the European Council would adopt this attitude precisely when, after endless uncertainty, the fundamentals of an agreement with significant qualitative improvements are developing.
Merkel and Sarkozy want to design a new treaty that could stabilize the euro. And this is a must. The deficiencies of current treaties have been picked over thoroughly in order to respond to the size and scope of the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in Europe.
If the disagreements from member countries that Van Rompuy referred to come to the fore, then Merkel and Sarkozy will have to assume that their new treaty is lacking. But that will be clear in time, and meanwhile this summit should go forward as planned.
