Contradictory: Euro Zone Takes Step To Deeper Integration, Key Issues Unresolved

[50 shades of black + 254]

European Union leaders took a step toward deeper euro zone integration on Friday to help prevent future crises, but deep disagreement left key issues like a euro zone budget and a deposit guarantee scheme unresolved.Leaders of all EU countries except Britain, which is to leave the bloc in March, endorsed an agreement reached earlier by their finance ministers to give some new powers to the euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). But the ministers had also asked for guidance on the highly controversial idea of a euro zone budget: its size, purpose, financing or duration, and a euro zone deposit guarantee scheme that would prevent bank runs and stabilize the banking system. divided, the leaders said they would decide on the budget size later, but noted it should be part of the wider EU budget that is one percent of EU gross national income. This is a far cry from the initial idea by French President Emmanuel Macron of a pool of money of several percent of euro zone GDP. “It strikes a compromise with elements of the proposals of France and others. Yes, they would have liked it to go much further,” Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, one of the staunchest opponents of the euro zone budget idea, told reporters. In a blow to German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who had wanted the budget to stabilize economies through an unemployment insurance scheme, the leaders said it should only be used to make economies more competitive and similar to one another. “I had the impression that we are advancing, but we are not progressing rapidly enough,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference.

[pinto + 293]

Looks like a giant roulette wheel! Perhaps that's fitting...

[Petar + 76]

EU is not falling apart, it might get better.

[damirUSBiH + 327]

Failed married couples try to solve their marriages by making new kids. An economic it's a full disaster for the kids and  parents.  The  EU is anything but a political union.

[50 shades of black + 254]

Stronger EU, stronger World. Simply.

[rainman + 263]

They have a huge problem in Euro Zone: a big recession on the way,so much debts ,some banks are dodgy, this might end badly..

[Petar + 76]

10 minutes ago, rainman said:

They have a huge problem in Euro Zone: a big recession on the way,so much debts ,some banks are dodgy, this might end badly..

Not sure. Don't forget that EU and Japan have signed free trade agreements, creating the world's largest free trade zone which will be launched from the beginning of the next year...

[Pavel + 384]

2 minutes ago, Petar said:

Not sure. Don't forget that EU and Japan have signed free trade agreements, creating the world's largest free trade zone which will be launched from the beginning of the next year...

Yep. Open trading zone, 635 million people....and "just" about 1/3 world's total GDP

[ThunderBlade + 231]

This is a great economic strategy that will not only benefit the people of EU and Japan, but more so for the whole world in the effort to enhance fair globalization...

[ronwagn + 6,290]

7 hours ago, ThunderBlade said:

This is a great economic strategy that will not only benefit the people of EU and Japan, but more so for the whole world in the effort to enhance fair globalization...

There is no such thing as fair globalization IMHO. It is like turning over your country to the United Nations                                      My Globalization Topic https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k8kNhtZJLuN66TpDuo67WBV1U2JhhZIvAefxeMNK0ls/edit

[Rasmus Jorgensen + 1,169]

The EU is isn't perfect. Some people oppose it. it could use an overhaul. But on the whole European countries are better off with the EU than without. 

[shadowkin + 584]

On 12/14/2018 at 10:36 AM, 50 shades of black said:

Stronger EU, stronger World. Simply.

EU totally reliant on US for its defense so...stronger US, stronger world.