25.01.2012
By Simon Miller
The German chancellor Angela Merkel has called for “more Europe” to solve the economic crisis.
Merkel opened the World Economic Forum at Davos by saying that the financial and economic crisis “that started in America left a deep imprint on Europe” which left European countries still working on the fallout.
“Europe was a work of peace … and we cannot overestimate what a success this was, after a century of wars tore us apart,” said Merkel. “We are lucky to be able to be with others and share our common future.”
She continued: “There is a clear lack of the political structures of the necessary underpinnings to make this project work... Do we dare more Europe? Yes.”
Merkel added there was erosion in confidence over Europe with the problem of public indebtedness at the foreground.
However, she added that Europe also had “difficulties and weaknesses as regards competitiveness and that’s even more difficult to combat”.
Even with the problems of indebtedness, Merkel said austerity was not the only part of the solution.
“It's not only austerity measures. This is not only in and of itself of the essence, but also structural reforms that lead to more jobs. We all know this takes longer than 12 months or 18 months to achieve. We still have to convince each other that this is necessary,” Merkel said.
Other stories you may find of interest:
Reforms still needed in Chinese financial sector
China has to reform its financial sector if it is to achieve its goal of a new structure for economic growth according to the World Bank.
Bernanke fails to convince with no QE announcement
The head of US Federal Reserve Ben Bernanke has refused to rule out another round of quantative easing, insisting that there were a range of tools at his disposal.
