German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have agreed on a series of reforms aimed at saving the euro and enforcing fiscal discipline among eurozone members, the two leaders said Monday.
Merkel, Sarkozy plan new EU treaty ahead of crucial euro summit | Europe | Deutsche Welle
What do you notice in the quote above? Anything specific that sticks out? Hint: there are 27 countries in the EU. However, Merkel and Sarkozy have, apparently, agreed all on their own that this new treaty that they have single handily drafted now needs to be signed by all member States. From the article:
The new treaty would include automatic sanctions for member states that violate the rules meant to keep deficits in check. “We want immediate sanctions in the event of non-respect for the rule keeping deficits below 3 percent” of gross domestic product, said Sarkozy.
He added that they would prefer a treaty agreed by all 27 members of the European Union, but said they would also accept a treaty signed by just the 17 countries that use the common currency.
This is what political hegemony (with a dash of bullying) actually looks like. I wonder how it will go down across a continent that is growing more skeptical of the EU by the day (not that Europeans, as a whole were ever overly enthusiastic but lately the discontent has been reaching new peaks).
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