The European Central Bank (ECB) will not give details of its plan to buy Spanish and Italian bonds until the German congress makes its decision about the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) on September 12.
Mario Draghi was expected to explain his intentions after the ECB?s monthly meeting on the sixth of the month, but he will wait until the German government formally ratifies the ESM. The euro zone's problem is that, as in Becket's Waiting for Godot, it is forever waiting for someone to arrive or something to happen. "Today no"surely tomorrow." And the ennui that this drains the market's confidence. This process is difficult to prevent.
Negotiations about a Spain intervention have been delayed, and Greece must wait for an answer to its request for aid after Samaras' unfruitful pleas to European leaders. But Greece's problems have fallen out of focus as cameras point toward Spain.
Starting next Tuesday, Rajoy is expected to hold a tight schedule of meetings with Van Rompuy, Moni, Hollande the President of Finland and Merkel. All except Monti will come to Spain, but the focus will be on Rajoy's meeting with Merkel. Increasingly firm after leaving Greece without an answer until at least October, Merkel, like the others, is going to pressure Spain to ask for a bailout.
It is expected that the relative calm of August will bleed into a difficult autumn. What is Merkel waiting on? What if her tomorrow never comes?
