Paris:
It was a turbulent start for Francois Hollande. Minutes after taking office, France's new President was completely drenched in the rain as his open top Citroen went down the Champs Elysees. A few hours later, he took off in a Falcon 7x to head towards Berlin for his first foreign trip to meet Angela Merkel and the plane was hit by lightning. A U-turn was made to Paris and the President took off again in another plane.
Chancellor Merkel has so far dominated European policy making and she will be Hollande's biggest challenge in the days to come. President Hollande has to convince European political leadership to soften it's stand and shift away from asking for cuts on pay, pensions and public spending as a solution to the crisis. France exercise much less clout over Europe than Germany and this will not be an easy task.
In the joint press conference in Berlin, Hollande and Merkel said they were going to work together even if their positions were divergent. Angela Merkel's position has been that of keeping tight budgetary discipline as the top priority of EU nations. Hollande reiterated that he would like a growth pact to be added to the European Fiscal Treaty signed recently in March. "I want to put growth at the heart of our debate," he said. Merkel said both Germany and France will put forth ideas and work together closely for the June Euro summit. The two leaders, however, did make it clear that their approaches were different. In fact, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel may not be able to agree any time soon on what methods should be used to accelerate growth.
Hollande may have shown that the idea of spending more to kickstart growth is a formula that can win votes but what he needs to now prove is that the anti-austerity formula can really work at the European level. So far, the European Troika made of the European Central Bank, the European Union and the Internationational Monetary fund have told Greece to comply with austerity measures or face the consequences.
However, Hollande has been able to sense the pulse of voters who are likely to reject harsh austerity measures everywhere, as they have in Greece. Saying "no" to austerity is also a way of saying "yes" to political stability and winning the confidence of the voters. However, stability itself will not suffice. The "gift of growth, jobs and economic activity" that Hollande has said he'll bring to not just France but also for Europe, will have to become more than just election promises. France's public debt and deficit are soaring and growth will be almost nil in the first quarter of the year.
Germany and France, Europe's leading economies, have to quickly find a way to reach a consensus on how to move forward on the Eurozone crisis. Sceptics say there's no stopping Europe's downward spiral either ways. But there's a fair chance that compulsions and constraints will lead to a functional "Merkollande" alliance sooner than we think. Many say Hollande is a pragmatic politician who will be tough without being aggressive and could give a new impetus to Europe on how to find fresh solutions.
Chancellor Merkel has so far dominated European policy making and she will be Hollande's biggest challenge in the days to come. President Hollande has to convince European political leadership to soften it's stand and shift away from asking for cuts on pay, pensions and public spending as a solution to the crisis. France exercise much less clout over Europe than Germany and this will not be an easy task.
In the joint press conference in Berlin, Hollande and Merkel said they were going to work together even if their positions were divergent. Angela Merkel's position has been that of keeping tight budgetary discipline as the top priority of EU nations. Hollande reiterated that he would like a growth pact to be added to the European Fiscal Treaty signed recently in March. "I want to put growth at the heart of our debate," he said. Merkel said both Germany and France will put forth ideas and work together closely for the June Euro summit. The two leaders, however, did make it clear that their approaches were different. In fact, Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel may not be able to agree any time soon on what methods should be used to accelerate growth.
Hollande may have shown that the idea of spending more to kickstart growth is a formula that can win votes but what he needs to now prove is that the anti-austerity formula can really work at the European level. So far, the European Troika made of the European Central Bank, the European Union and the Internationational Monetary fund have told Greece to comply with austerity measures or face the consequences.
However, Hollande has been able to sense the pulse of voters who are likely to reject harsh austerity measures everywhere, as they have in Greece. Saying "no" to austerity is also a way of saying "yes" to political stability and winning the confidence of the voters. However, stability itself will not suffice. The "gift of growth, jobs and economic activity" that Hollande has said he'll bring to not just France but also for Europe, will have to become more than just election promises. France's public debt and deficit are soaring and growth will be almost nil in the first quarter of the year.
Germany and France, Europe's leading economies, have to quickly find a way to reach a consensus on how to move forward on the Eurozone crisis. Sceptics say there's no stopping Europe's downward spiral either ways. But there's a fair chance that compulsions and constraints will lead to a functional "Merkollande" alliance sooner than we think. Many say Hollande is a pragmatic politician who will be tough without being aggressive and could give a new impetus to Europe on how to find fresh solutions.
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