Fiscal feud

The following comments reflect the views of DW-WORLD.DE readers. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

Opinion: Merkel, Sarkozy opt for small steps rather than eurobonds

I totally disagree with the idea of eurobonds. To have eurobonds means we put all our credit in Europe together. Poor countries can blackmail the rich ones. Politicians in Europe can't discipline them because in the end, the rich ones have to pay. Please make it clear for the taxpayer in Germany and then ask them: you will find the right answer. In my opinion, only the market can teach every government in Europe how to make solid fiscal policy. Neither the German nor the French government can do it. -- Martin P., Germany

German press review: Eurozone integration 'a step in the right direction'

I think the world outside the EU – especially US-based rating agencies and the markets – tends to lose sight of the fact that neither the eurozone nor the EU as a whole is a single country! That might sound absurd, right? But I think that is part of the problem. I think there is an expectation that these sovereign nations are just going to make snap decisions and act as if they are provinces of a supra-country. It cannot work that way (yet). It does not even work that way in a single country, as both the US and Greece recently demonstrated. Policy making and its implementation take time when you're trying to uphold the sovereignty of any EU nation (eurozone member or not). Having said that, I might have liked to see prominent players such as Merkel, Sarkozy, Barosso, Trichet, Juncker, Rehn or van Rompuy place emphasis on this fact. Perhaps they take it for granted that there is a relatively long, complex process involved in these EU matters. But perhaps they shouldn't assume that the media, the markets and the rating agencies know or even care if that is the case. -- Wilnelia A., South Africa

Germany and France push for closer economic coordination in eurozone

I believe that both Ms. Merkel and Mr. Sarkozy are right by not going in on the eurobond idea. As part of the EU, they must figure out something that is going to improve the EU as a whole and not just the financial markets. -- Miguel G., Brazil

Berlin and Paris snub 'eurobonds' despite growing support

This is what scares me most: politicians, who hardly have any idea about economics, are the ones trying to solve this problem. Instead, let people with knowledge handle this. Now is no time for political brinkmanship. -- Vera G., Germany

The eurozone could have avoided many of the great debts in the current eurozone crisis by restricting the original union to Austria, Benelux, Finland, France and Germany. The other nations which were included in the 1999 expansion should not have been allowed to join. These nations should have demonstrated at least five more consecutive years of compliance with the Maastricht Treaty before being admitted to the euro. While such a decision would have hindered trade with other European countries, a smaller currency union of the most wealthy European nations would have given the euro time to mature and develop a management model for debt crisis. The current patchwork method of emergency debt crisis management shows that Germany and France did not have time to plan for eurozone economic meltdowns. -- Jordan, Canada

Compiled by Petra Kusserow and Shant Shahrigian
Editor: Susan Houlton