That Hollande did not represent a problem, let alone a threat, for Mrs Merkel it was understood well before the socialist candidate won the runoff with his neo-Gaullist rival. The fact is that, just over three months after François Hollande took office at the Elysée, Mrs Merkel has not changed one iota of her line on Europe, nor has she changed her attitude towards Paris. So rather than of a flashback, it would be more appropriate to talk about continuity in Franco-German cooperation. If there has been a change, it rather concerns the French President, that, after taking several steps back on the need to renegotiate the Fiscal Compact, just three days ago, spoke words of fire for Athens, inviting it to respect the agreements made with the Troika.
Words that have seemed similar to those used recently by several members of the Bavarian CSU, which, thanks to the approaching elections in Country of Munich, suddenly began to insist on a Greek exit from the Eurozone, causing quite a few headaches for the Chancellor and her executive in such a delicate phase of the Eurocrisis.
The fact remains that, after some uncertainties about the need to proceed along the path of political, economic and financial integration, now Hollande seems willing to fall back into line, following Mrs Merkel's agenda. Yesterday, on the eve of today's summit between the Chancellor and the French President, Germany and France have in fact announced the presentation of a package of measures to launch a banking union, strengthen the coordination of economic and fiscal policies and move towards the creation of a political union. According to the French Foreign Minister, Pierre Moscovici, the package will also contain ideas to cushion the impact of the crisis in Spain and Greece (or, as gossips suggest, to launch yet another hair cut). Proposals will be ready by October, after the publication of the new Troika report on Greece; a sign that the intention is in any case to respect the timetable set last June, starting the new year with a renewed European building and ready to withstand new jolts.
What concretely is destined to come out of the hat of Mrs. Merkel and the French President is not clear. It is conceivable that among the first measures there is the implementation of unified banking supervision, European deposit insurance and new stimuli for growth; only at a later time will the pieces concerning the European economic governance and the direct investiture of the President of the European Commission and of the European Council be added. In fact, these last elements require a modification of the current Treaties and therefore the convening of a new European Convention, as he clarified the other day Nikolaus Meyer-Landrut, the Chancellor's EU policy adviser.
