In crisis, reminders of disputes in euro's founding

Simon Tilford, chief economist at the Centre for European Reform (CER) in London, called it "a positive step that this debate is taking place in Germany and that there is an acceptance that pooling fiscal authority is a necessary precondition of a lasting conclusion of the crisis." "But there is a risk," he added pointedly, “that in order to sell this to domestic opinion, Germany will extract concessions that will render the whole thing unworkable." ...Europe still hasn’t resolved the fundamental question it skirted back in 1996 at Dublin Castle: Is the euro more in need of Germanic fiscal stability or the growth and stimulus policies that France traditionally champions? "It is not going to help the euro zone," said Mr. Tilford of the CER, if "they enforce unworkable positions on the rest of the euro zone." He added, "The markets are concerned about debt levels - but also about growth"