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François Hollande's vision of an anti-austerity Europe was just a dream François Hollande's vision of an anti-austerity Europe was just a dream
(5 months later)
François Hollande had planned it all and it sure looked good on paper. In just over a year, the balance of power in Europe would shift and the French president would manage to impose his anti-austerity views on the rest of the continent. He would only be a lone voice in Europe for a matter of months. He would soon find strong allies in Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the Italian left, who would sweep Italy off her feet, and in the German Social Democrats who would finally oust Angela Merkel from power. He would then triumphantly introduce his pro-growth agenda, adjusting monetary policy with a mix of quantitative easing and a dash of inflation. All the things Germany had always vehemently said no to.François Hollande had planned it all and it sure looked good on paper. In just over a year, the balance of power in Europe would shift and the French president would manage to impose his anti-austerity views on the rest of the continent. He would only be a lone voice in Europe for a matter of months. He would soon find strong allies in Pier Luigi Bersani, leader of the Italian left, who would sweep Italy off her feet, and in the German Social Democrats who would finally oust Angela Merkel from power. He would then triumphantly introduce his pro-growth agenda, adjusting monetary policy with a mix of quantitative easing and a dash of inflation. All the things Germany had always vehemently said no to.
Except that now, Hollande's plan can go straight in the bin. We know what happened to Bersani in Italy. After two months of failing to form a government, he humiliatingly had to step down and the 87-year-old president, Giorgio Napolitano, certainly not amused to have to come to the rescue, asked Bersani's number two, Enrico Letta, to look beyond the left. Italy was this week endowed with a broad left-to-right coalition with a few key Berlusconi men. Hardly a strong ally for Hollande. As for Germany and the chances of the Social Democrats beating Merkel in September, poll after poll (the latest showing Merkel with a 13-point lead) suggest she is here to stay.Except that now, Hollande's plan can go straight in the bin. We know what happened to Bersani in Italy. After two months of failing to form a government, he humiliatingly had to step down and the 87-year-old president, Giorgio Napolitano, certainly not amused to have to come to the rescue, asked Bersani's number two, Enrico Letta, to look beyond the left. Italy was this week endowed with a broad left-to-right coalition with a few key Berlusconi men. Hardly a strong ally for Hollande. As for Germany and the chances of the Social Democrats beating Merkel in September, poll after poll (the latest showing Merkel with a 13-point lead) suggest she is here to stay.
And if things weren't bad enough, Hollande has had to deal this week with the embarrassing leak of a document cooked up by some caudillos in his party personally attacking "the selfish intransigence of Chancellor Merkel". The idea was probably to flex France's muscles ahead of June's EU summit and to try to convince Merkel to water down her austerity ideology. However, the leak has proved disastrous and the French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, a former German teacher, and EU commissioner Michel Barnier, had to resort to Twitter and sent tweets in German, reaffirming the special Franco-German relationship. This felt like damage limitation. Needless to say, the German political class and media were not impressed.And if things weren't bad enough, Hollande has had to deal this week with the embarrassing leak of a document cooked up by some caudillos in his party personally attacking "the selfish intransigence of Chancellor Merkel". The idea was probably to flex France's muscles ahead of June's EU summit and to try to convince Merkel to water down her austerity ideology. However, the leak has proved disastrous and the French prime minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault, a former German teacher, and EU commissioner Michel Barnier, had to resort to Twitter and sent tweets in German, reaffirming the special Franco-German relationship. This felt like damage limitation. Needless to say, the German political class and media were not impressed.
Andreas Schockenhoff, a German MP from the CDU, said: "It just shows how confused French socialists are. A year after their arrival to power, they haven't found any solutions to France's economic and financial problems." The financial newspaper Handelsblatt underlined "the panic and divisions among the French socialists". The Berliner Zeitung was damning. "French socialists had said they'd show Europe the way. A year after Hollande's election, it sounds like a joke."Andreas Schockenhoff, a German MP from the CDU, said: "It just shows how confused French socialists are. A year after their arrival to power, they haven't found any solutions to France's economic and financial problems." The financial newspaper Handelsblatt underlined "the panic and divisions among the French socialists". The Berliner Zeitung was damning. "French socialists had said they'd show Europe the way. A year after Hollande's election, it sounds like a joke."
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