Notre Europe's viewpoint | 27/10/2010 

As stated by Tommaso Padoa Schioppa, President of Notre Europe, in an exclusive interview published by Notre Europe, 2010 will assuredly remain the year in which the crisis struck Europe hard. The economic crisis which began in 2008 and has since taken hold in Europe remains the main concern of Europeans. It will again be at the heart of the debate at the European Council of the 28th and 29th of October which will focus on reforming EU economic governance. Other topics that will be on the agenda include the preparation of the G20 meeting in Seoul on the 11th and 12th of November, the political climate for the Cancun Conference from the 29th of November to the 10th of December, and relations with the United States in the run up to the November 20 Summit.

In terms of economic governance, the challenge, as Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa underlines, is to move from emergency mechanisms to structural reforms. One of these mechanisms which should be made permanent is the European Fund for financial stability as advocated by the President of Notre Europe in an article co-authored by Peter Bofinger, Henrik Enderlein and Andre Sapir published in the Financial Times on September 27 entitled "Euro-zone Needs a permanent bail-out fund.” However, it is not only a question of creating a framework for stabilization. It is also necessary that the EU become an economic player in its own right, capable of stimulating growth.

The “new European face” of Germany has also emerged from this crisis. One year after the German Constitutional Court’s conspicuous decree on the Lisbon Treaty, Notre Europe decided to take a deeper look at Germany’s European position and its future. The multiple effects of the decision of the Constitutional Court -- notably regarding the role of national parliaments -- are analyzed in detail by Katrin Auel and Julio Baquero Cruz in the study "Karlsruhe’s Europe.” And to delve deeper into the German issue, Notre Europe convened an expert committee headed by Elvire Fabry and Renaud Dehousse which has published a study entitled "Where is Germany heading?” in order to respond to various questions raised by the choice of its European policy.