It’s logical that German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had a plan B in his pocket for the case the majority of British people would vote in favor of Brexit. like every well-trained bureaucrat Schaeuble is much too insecure to let anything get him by surprise. The German finance minister loves to live in his Kafkaesque castle surrounded by high walls of rules and regulations, of protocols and directives, and fences made of primary and secondary paragraphs, of periods and semicolons – and a comma here and there, a tiny fancy sprinkle to break the dull monotony. In the nicely shielded paper world of Schaeuble there is no space for ‘exclamation marks’. Schaeuble hates surprises and wants to be covered for any unpredictable developments, cosmic attacks included.
And the Brexit Vote was indeed an exclamation mark threatening to bring down to collapse Schaeuble’s World of Austerity Wonders, his puny and laboriously compiled refuge. The German finance minister took his precautions ahead of the Thursday vote and had his team write down preparations draft for Brexit.
According to German dailies Die Welt and Handelsblatt that have obtained a copy of the “German strategy regarding Brexit“, the 8-page long document details how the government wants to deal with Britain as it leaves the European Union.
Germany is willing to negotiate an association agreement with Britain, but wants to avoid making too many concessions that would give incentives for other states to follow suit. Other countries that might want to leave the European Union could be France, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and Hungary, the paper notes.
To deter other European countries from leaving the bloc, the European Union “should refrain from setting wrong incentives for other member states when renegotiating relations.”
Therefore,
“The extent of the knock-on effect will depend on the handling of the United Kingdom.”
Both Wolfgang Schaeuble and Chancellor Angela Merkel fear that the European Commision, France and Italy could exploit the current uncertainty to push for more risk-sharing — a reference to pooling liabilities in tackling the euro debt crisis, for example. Germany should “proactively” steer against such a development, the paper said.
The reason for Germany to oppose such a move is not as selfless as it seems. The real reason is pure political calculation as Berlin fears that such a move would strengthen the hands of euroskeptic movements in EU countries and within Germany itself that faces the challenges of far-right, racist Alternative for Germany/AfD but is unable to deal with them.
Schaeuble’s staff are worried about “an increased level of shared liabilities in the euro zone, for instance an independent budget for the 19-nation single currency region or a European deposit guarantee scheme.”
Berlin is only willing to accept a deeper level of integration in the European Union when E.U. treaties are changed, for instance to strengthen the control of budget and economic policies. One of the proposals in Mr. Schäuble’s paper is:
“to give the European Union the power to block a nation’s budget plan if it does not meet the region’s deficit rules.”
The paper also said Britain’s departure from the European Union could cost Germany €3 billion, or $3.3 billion, to make up for the future absence of Britain’s contribution to the European budget. The hole would have to be plugged by other E.U. countries. (full article in Handelsblatt)
The German dogma has been always clear: “Wins are ours, Losses are yours.” This policy cannot work but Berlin is not willing to change it. Because it cannot. The weak psycho needs to have Control! Control! Control! to be able to breathe and function.
There is a Nietzsche’s aphorism: Der Schein und das Sein (Appearance and Reality). Berlin appears to be strong but in reality is on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
The EU is me! And the Eurozone, of course!
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier shouted this morning at the world:
“Won’t Let Anyone Take Europe From Us”
An odd shout out that reminds -paraphrased- of cries for help in psycho-drama sessions.
Steinmeier had invited foreign ministers from the EU’s six founding members (Benelux, The Netherlands, Italy and France in a villa in Berlin to consult about the Brexit vote.
“I am confident that these [6] countries can also send a message that we won’t let anyone take Europe from us,” Steinmeier told reporters.
Right. Steinmeier (SPD) did not hold the meeting in Brussels as he should but in EU’s unofficial headquarters in Berlin thus claiming ownership and leadership of the European Union. Not only he excluded the rest of the EU-member states from the decision making process he also left outside the core EU institutions, the European Commission.
A not at all diplomatic move? Certainly. A sign of German arrogance? No doubt. A spasmodic act? For sure. Authoritarian behavior? Absolutely.
Steinmeier called the European Union “a successful project of peace and stability” and said that there was a “strong desire” within the bloc to defend and strengthen it.
He did not elaborate whether “the bloc” are all 27 – still 28 indeed- EU members or only the founding ones.
“I think it is absolutely clear that we are in a situation in which neither hysteria nor paralysis are permissible, ” Steinemeir said and added “We must not rush headlong into hectic action, pretending we had all the answers. But we must also not fall into depression or inaction after the British decision.”
I think it is a rumor, that his doctor prescribed him zanax or valium and checked the connection between ears and brain.
Or Aspirin did not help after going to an Irish pub! Hicks!
Tweeted last night by German Foreign Ministry
We are off now to an Irish pub to get decently drunk. And from tomorrow on we will again work for a better #Europe! Promised! #EURef 🇪🇺
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) June 24, 2016
Tweeted this morning
.@aaronMCN Keeping our promise+working for a better #Europe by preparing a ForMin meeting. Aspirin helps, though 😇 pic.twitter.com/ZByIw9C7D9
— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) June 25, 2016
PS The Grexit-option of 2015 was not an exclamation mark for Schaeuble: there would have been no negotiations with Greece but just implementation of the thoroughly-thought 5-year Grexit-Plan Schaeuble had prepared already in 2011 and tabled it to Tsipras in May 2015.
Schauble must have been an idiot just like all idiots he read Kafka although Kafka never published as he didn’t want anyone to read his shit and Steinemeier can not go any Irish pub as the IRA will take him hostage as an Irish independence day.
The German paranoya has extremely aggravated since Brexit. Read the Adenauers’ grandson nightmare on how to enslave Europe http://www.focus.de/politik/experten/zukunft-der-eu-adenauer-enkel-mein-10-punkte-plan-zur-rettung-europas_id_5665720.html
However, no other member state will sign to this.
The huge German problem is that euro can start to fall rapidly, as it is now clear that EU can disapear overnight. While this is beneficial to debtor countries, for Germany it will be a huge problem. Therefore they produce very silly theories.
What has also changed now – if there is risk of a country exit from euro, not necessarily it will be agood strategy to transfer funds to core, as core can just nullify those amounts.
The plan is the result of incompetence and of incompetent people,however much this may sound out of place for a person like the German finance minister.
Instead of creating conditions for making it unattractive for others to LEAVE the European Union,it would be much more productive and would require more creativeness to make conditions more appealing to REMAIN and also to attract others to join.
Let us see how this whole affair will play out. Will Germany once again win the battles and loose the war?
Can this paper be true if it didn’t include Italy??
As I have said in other pieces in KTG, Germany is solely responsible for the state Europe is in right now. Following the doctrine “gains are ours, losses are yours” it has engaged in a careful process of manipulation, bribery (e.g. Siemens-Greece) and preparation (via Schröder’s Agenda 2010) aiming at total domination of the entire Europe and the Eurozone in particular.
As has been proven in various cases (Greek summer 2015, Irish and Spanish banking crises, Cyprus etc.) there is no way the Germans are going to abandon such plans willingly. In a parallel fashion to the WW2 invasion in Russia, they will continue regardless and at any cost, until their final fall. The problem is how many lives of other Europeans they would have been burnt and destroyed in the meantime.
Maybe our solution is just that: kick the Germans out of Europe or force them to go.
I’ve been saying thi sin last 3 years: Germany should leave the EU
Looks like Schauble is having trouble to “convince the markets”.
Even if the UK was not part of the Eurozone, the Deutsche Bank stock price dropped bellow the 2008 Lehmon Brother minimum (please search “Deutsche Bank stock” on google to confirm).
I suppose the markets know Schaeuble’s strategy leads to Staligrad
So do I.
What the EU & their staff are afraid of is their free meal ticked vanishing into thin air and nothing else.
Scum and poor white trash –
The trouble with some people is that they are social climbers & “just love’ all aristocracy & everything it represents.
Shallow, empth self-serving parasites one & all.
Have the wheels finally come off Schäuble’s wheelchair?