" We need to do whatever we can to convince Germany to show leadership and preserve the European Union as the fantastic object that it used to be. The future of Europe depends on it."
Show Germany how it will meet its energy needs, as the future of Europe depends on that.
The EU never created a central org to issue consolidated debt, as did the US following the adoption of the constitution, so each EU member issued it own debt , allowing speculation against that national debt--exacerbated by derivatives--rather than against the former national currencies. Same game, different paper.
The Germans have the advantage of a cheap currency, but their EU partners have maxed the credit card (and German bankers bought truck loads of AAA toxic mortgage paper) , so the German export dependency on Europe renders them geopolitically vulnerable, since, just as before WW2, Germany is energy deficient. Consequent to Fukushima, Germany wants to abandon nuclear energy. And once again Germany will be forced to look east, to Russia, for gas.
05/18/2012 11:27 Europe's Failed Natural Gas StrategyGazprom Hopes to Build Second Baltic Sea PipelineBy Frank Dohmen and Alexander Jung
With the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline in southern Europe hitting snag after snag, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is considering the construction of a second Baltic Sea pipeline to go with the just-finished Nord Stream. With unconventional natural gas from the US flooding the market, however, the strategy is not without risk.
. . .
The scenario that seems to be unfolding -- an expansion of northern supply lines and a downsizing of southern routes -- will bring turmoil to the entire natural gas market in Europe. The European Union had conceived Nabucco as a way to broaden its source of supply. Instead, however, the apparent failure of Nabucco and the expansion of the Baltic route threatens to make the EU more dependent than ever on Russian sources.
Europe already buys about a quarter of its natural gas from Russia with Germany relying on the country for 35 percent of its needs. This makes Germany vulnerable.
spiegel.de 
Addressing this issue will be extremely difficult for Germany:
05/30/2012 10:10 Chilly PeaceGerman-Russian Relations Enter a New Ice AgeBy Ralf Neukirch and Matthias Schepp
Relations between Germany and Russia appear to be approaching a new ice age. Berlin is more dependent on Moscow than ever before, but Merkel has little trust in newly re-elected President Vladimir Putin. She would like to strengthen the opposition.
spiegel.de
Energy needs will drive policy in what promises to be a tumultuous transition to some new geopolitical alignment. |
