In dribs and drabs

“The crisis has reached a systemic dimension” and every delay in the counter-moves “aggravates the situation”. Not a day passes by without a new alarm bell ringing: 11 October was the turn of Jean-Claude Trichet. It’s no accident that the President of the European Central Bank expressed his view on the day following the decision to defer the European Council. The financial and budgetary instabilities of many States that have adopted the single currency are creating tensions in the EU. Yet it is especially cohesion and specific measures to tackle the crisis that are needed in this phase.A packed calendar. The bilateral summit between Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy on 9 October – dedicated to Greece, recapitalization of the banks and sovereign debt bailout fund – has created misgivings, expressed by some ministers or heads of government contrary to a “European directorate” on the axis between Berlin and Paris. On the other hand, a quite unexpected move was that of the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, who on 10 October announced a deferment of the European summit of 17-18 October to the following Sunday, 23 October. The meeting of heads of state and of government of the 27 and that of the Eurogroup (17 countries that have adopted the single currency) will be held on the same date. The order of the day ought to remain focused on the economic crisis, governance and the Greek situation; a further point on the agenda would be defining EU positions in view of the G20 in Cannes on 3-4 November. A meeting of Ecofin (financial ministers of the 27) and another of the Eurogroup, again at ministerial level, are scheduled to be held before 23 October. The decision to defer the European Council meeting is said to have been taken in agreement with Commission President Barroso and Eurogroup President Juncker. The objective, according to Herman Van Rompuy, is again that of “finalizing our comprehensive strategy on the Euro area sovereign debt crisis”. Van Rompuy points out that “further elements are needed to address the situation in Greece, the bank recapitalizations and the enhanced efficiency of stabilization tools (EFSF). Evidently the fluid political situation induced Van Rompuy to postpone the summit to avert its failure.Political climate remains tense. What is certain is that a rather tense atmosphere reigns in Brussels and in various EU capitals. European policy must in fact come to terms with the financial emergency – which has serious repercussions on the real economy and on employment (there is no country exempt from these aspects) -, with international developments and with forthcoming summits at the world level, such as the G20, without ignoring the political instabilities and tendencies of each member state and the impact of national public opinions. We may think of the results of the recent elections in Poland (favourable to outgoing liberal premier Tusk, reconfirmed), the electoral campaign underway in Spain, and pre-electoral tensions in Germany and France (with the majority political parties placed in serious difficulties by the recession itself), as also in Italy. Greece is experiencing an ongoing phase of public strikes and popular protests. In the countries of Northern Europe (Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, and also Austria), “hard-line” in terms of public debt and monetary policy, doubts about the inabilities of some countries to control their public accounts are growing. Then there are those unflaggingly dissonant positions, such as that of the UK, and also of some countries in Eastern Europe, that never let a day go past without expressing messages of disaffection from the European project. In this situation, it is becoming objectively difficult to assume shared positions able to act as a breakwater on the economic front or as a curb on the financial markets. These aspects of the question will also be discussed in the plenary session of the European Parliament, scheduled to be held in Brussels on 12-13 October and in the above-mentioned ministerial meetings and those between the leaders of the 27.Eight points for Cannes. “Our partners of the G20 have the impression that if Europe fails to resolve the sovereign debt crisis, which is impacting on it in this phase, the world economy will suffer grave repercussions. It’s up to us to demonstrate that the EU is determined to do everything necessary to overcome the current difficulties”. So the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and that of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, wrote a letter on 10 October, addressed to the 27 heads of state and of government who are due to meet on 23 October to tackle the problem of the financial crisis and prepare the meeting of the G20. The two European leaders urge national political leaders to act with determination and in a spirit of unity, so as to bring the active contribution of Europe to bear at the international level. In particular they specify eight main points on which the EU should reach an agreement in order to play a role as protagonist at Cannes. They include: revival of a growth agenda; showing concrete progress in the control of financial markets and in world governance; acting on the international monetary system; stimulating trade; and promoting the social dimension of globalization.