France-Germany: ‘Berlin declares France a problem state’
30 April 2013
Presseurop
Handelsblatt
Handelsblatt, 30 April 2013
“The honeymoon is over.
Franco-German relations have been cooled by the euro crisis,” remarks the business daily.
“In the wake of the harsh criticism of the German Chancellor leveled by France's Socialists, both governments attempted to limit the damage,” writes Handelsblatt. However, “now Angela Merkel’s second-in-command has poured petrol on the flames”: Finance Minister Philip Rösler recently authored a report, obtained by the newspaper, which “enumerates the economic and political weaknesses” of Germany’s neighbour.
In particular, it singles out “the increasing cost of labour and high payroll taxes,” the "shortest working hours in the EU”, and “the highest tax and social welfare burden in the eurozone.”
According to Rösler, French competitiveness is in decline and industries, struggling under the weight of taxes, are leaving the country, explains Handelsblatt. "France is drifting south," argues the minister, who believes that the country can no longer play a stabilising role in the euro crisis.
Posts
