If we take a look back at how the integration process evolved, the ‘state of tension’ between the community (the EU) and intergovernmental methods has always been present. The establishment of the three Communities in the 1950s was a reflection of how the process relied on the community method: this is how the creation of the Community common market began.

We received the Nobel Peace Prize. The British want to have their own laws at home. Will we pay new taxes to fill in the Eurozone’s budget? ESM is officially working, we will see how much it will finally cost us. Red Cross is going to help Spain. Majority of us haven’t ever won any award, so this news is completely out of the blue. We received the Nobel Peace Prize! Well, the European Union…

Are you catching up all the tools, actions and countermeasures designed to save the eurozone from a break-up? Let’s count them together. Bilateral loans to Greece, IMF loans, SMP, EFSM, EFSF, LTRO, Sixpack, Fiscal Pact, ESM, OMT… It’s difficult to find a politician, not to say an ordinary citizen, who understands all these abbreviations. And still, these letters mean hundreds of billions of euro. Each of these tools represents also a set of rules, which…

In Spain it will be hot after the summer. Judgment day will be on September 12. Did you sell grandfather’s gold teeth in Italy? We are treating depression by delivering news about bad situation our neighbours are in. The heat is slowing down the pace of society, but if you think it will slow down the pace of the crisis in the Eurozone, you’d better check if you don’t have sunstroke. Even though the news…

Bouncer Ottmar Issing. ECB once again kept Greece in the game. Will the next five-year plan be merrier? Briefly today. Pandas are on holidays and without Angela Merkel who is having a rest and German Minister of Finance, Wolfgang Schauble, not much is going on in Europe. Mario Monti, Italian Prime Minister, informed Germans that he needs their help, not financial, but moral one. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy considers asking Europe for help. Not…

Central banks still don’t provide monetary opium, how long will the current illusions last without it? New taxes and economic growth. Milton Friedman would be 100 years old. Crisis is 5 years old. Last week we challenged the governor of the ECB Mario Draghi, who promised the moon to the markets, to stop talking and to show the money instead (Show Me the Money!). This week it turned out that there is no money to cover…