On Thursday night, Italy and Spain plunged an EU summit into disarray by threatening to block “everything” unless Germany and other eurozone countries backed their demands for help.
Mario Monti, the Italian Prime Minister, celebrated the agreement, reached in the early hours of Friday, as a “very important deal for the future of the EU and the eurozone”. the telegraph
Or did she?
Monti didn’t get everything he wanted, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters. Italy “wanted direct bond buying by the aid funds in the secondary market,” he said. “That’s not going to happen. They wanted an interest-rate cap. That’s not going to happen either.” bloomberg
There are conditions. The Germans will see them met.
Much as I would like this endless crisis ended I fear the great and the good of Euroland have simply kicked the can another five yards.
Keeping the Euro is insane for Greece, Spain, Portugal and perhaps Italy and France as well. But the colleagues will persist.
Which kills the Greeks and the rest of the PIGGs…and worse, the rest of us.
Jay Currie 