The union within the union

WHEN Germany and France disagree, everybody complains about paralysis in Europe. When they agree, the protest is about unacceptable diktats. So when Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy pushed an EU summit in Brussels to approve their “competitiveness pact”, which calls for closer co-ordination of economic policies among countries using the euro, an outcry was only to be expected. Yet its vehemence took them aback.

More...