Hollande says Germany can't make decisions for all of Europe
"It's not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe," Hollande said late yesterday on France 2 television. "I'm getting a lot of signals, direct and indirect, from other governments, even if they're conservative."
The comment from Hollande, who wants to renegotiate the fiscal pact agreed to by leaders of 25 European nations, comes after Merkel reiterated her budget-cutting message in the face of rising criticism of Germany's focus on austerity. The remarks put the two politicians at Europe's two largest economies on a collision course over how to counter the region's sovereign debt crisis, Bloomberg reports.
Since beating President Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of France's presidential election on April 22, Hollande has stepped up his push against austerity in favor of growth. Hollande said this week that France won't ratify the fiscal pact in its current form if he is elected.
The Socialist candidate is leading a chorus of politicians and economists to take issue with Germany's debt focus. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi this week called for a "growth compact" to follow the fiscal pact.
German Strength
Merkel said again yesterday that excessive debt robs countries of their independence. Too much debt "harms countries' ability to make their own decisions, so that they're more and more dependent on the markets, and have to step up savings and make harsher cuts," Merkel said in Flensburg, northern Germany .
Germany, Europe's largest economy, has championed debt reduction as the key to ending the region's more than two-year- old financial crisis.
The national debt burden in Germany will fall to 78.9 percent of gross domestic product this year, while it will climb to 89 percent in France, the International Monetary Fund estimates.
Details also at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-26/hollande-says-germany-can-t-make-decisions-for-all-of-europe.html
