TEc - A tandem in trouble - the EU's two core countries show strains in need of quick fixes

A showdown between France and Germany over the EU is inevitable at some point in time. It was always bound to be so in light of an unbalanced bilateral relationship that has only grown worse over recent years.
'The Economist' scoops a few items that make up the dividing line now setting the two EU core countries apart.
Yet it fails to analyse beyond the problems of the day, the political leadership of the day, the issues of the day, Angela Merkel & François Hollande.
The new public partnership(?) between AM & FH is much more reflective of the two countries' identity, domestic tensions and interests, overall performance and relative GDP weight than the previous duo ever projected.

France and Germany - Germany in particular for reasons of undisputed economic strength - have got to hammer out a new routemap for the Eurozone. One that finally addresses political issues as well. The very issues that were dismissed while market finance seemed permanently assured.

Not for me to foretell the future but it does look like contracting economies cannot indefinitely remain in limbo trying to figure out pathways to growth.
Social costs have mounted everywhere with unemployment reaching levels spelling serious damage to societies and their fabric.
The adjustment underway did prove the logical outcome to years of excessive spending.
Cold-blooded soulless austerity, however, has removed all hope for an improved economic environment tomorrow. Even where and when it might eventually come about.

France and Germany, Germany and France have to quickly ensure the policies and means at EU-wide level that will reconnect many with the European ideal - whatever that is meant to be at present.
Their existing gulf must be seen to be closing instead of widening if the EU is to survive into the future.

FT - The limits to all-out unforgiving austerity are ever sharper to read

The political speech across the Eurozone has witnessed a change from austerity into something as yet undefined.
There is no doubt Mr. Hollande's rise to power a year ago has put additional weight into the anti-austerity argument. This is as much about France's own predicament as it is about austerity fatigue starkly felt in bailed-out countries whose desired outcomes are far from clear.

It is of course an uphill struggle to right public accounts when economies contract sharply over consecutive years. Vague promises of economic growth resuming into the future hardly find believers amongst a discredited lot having to make do with ever higher levels of multiple uncertainty.

Europe, the European Union and the Eurozone are facing very challenging times indeed.
Broadly, a multiple whammy has hit the old continent's economy, social set-up and ways that most politicians look utterly dejected when not awkward simply trying to cope. If at all they realize the underlying causes and trends. Because more than a few structural issues are not being discussed out in the open or perhaps even behind closed doors.

I do not see an upbeat path forward for every nation sharing the single currency - that which is a precondition to any successful monetary union - unless an emboldened deal is achieved at European level. Sooner rather than later.
The ultimate objective being to resume and sustain economic growth and employment across every country from north to south, west to east of the Eurozone, the European Union, Europe.

The time is now to find a workable replacement to austerity without upsetting public accounts.