Quote Originally Posted by Kralizec View Post
The criteria themselves (3% deficit and 60% government debt) are somewhat arbitrary, and usually exceeded anyway in a period of recession when governments resort to deficit spending (what's wrong with anticyclical spending anyway?)
These criteria have however, never been intended as an instant justification for sanctions but as a prerequisite, as evidenced by the fact that the council can, but doesn't have to impose sanctions in the case of a breech. Wich brings me to the second point...

Germany and France getting away with their budgetary vices is a symptom of the toothlessness of the pact, not the cause of it. Even if they had behaved themselves on those occasions it's extremely questionable wether anybody else would have been punished for infractions. It was decided in the early days that the ability to impose sanctions should lie with the council (i.e. the national leaders and potential culprits) instead of a supranational body like the European Commission, or some other EU institution. The reason? The fear of losing sovereignty, or the appearance of giving away sovereignty in front of voters.



I stand corrected, in regards to Ireland. What I said still stands for Greece, Italy and some others though.
I still haven't seen anybody put forward a coherent argument why overarching taxes are necessary for a monetary union.



I don't have much agains the system you describe if it's meant for emergencies or unusual situations. As a general procedure, it smells of moral hazard.
You sound like the German politics student I lived with. It's simple:

Try to "dicipline" Greece after the recession and they will give you the finger, because the Greek government is elected by the Greeks and you cannot make demands of a soverign country. If you have a mechanism for successfully diciplining Greece then you will have persuaded her, and the rest of the Eurozone to surrender fiscal soverignty.

That. won't. happen.

Such a change MUST be approved by plebicite, unless you want to trigger serious civil unrest, the sort of thing that makes the recent Greek protests look like mild complaint.

Fiscal diciple takes you down the same road as a transfer union, and that is Political Union.

The failure to accept these basic facts is what got you lot into this mess, burying your head in the sand at this point is not only irresponsible, it is bordering on insane. Either bit the bullet or bite the head of the Hydra.