On the Franco-German Euro Contradiction and Ultimate Euro Battleground

Section II revisits the respective economic models of France and Germany in the pre-EMU era stressing the currency sphere divide. Section III analyses how the contradicting aspirations of the two nations relate to the euro's birth defects, while Section IV underscores Germany's key responsibility for the divergences and related buildup of imbalances in the union that led to the euro crisis. Section V highlights that the crisis has created deep fault lines in the union and at its Franco-German axis, and that France has so far accepted its diminished role as junior partner in an alliance that no longer offers much prospect of a shared future on equally agreeable terms for all sides. Section VI argues that without a fundamental U-turn in German policy it may soon be left for France to decide that breaking up the euro might be the superior alternative in containing the damages to the wider European project. Section VII concludes. Adapted from the source document.