The International Talk Show - 20.08.2011 | Quadriga

Debt Crisis - Europe's Fate in Berlin's Hands? As Europe plunges deeper into debt, will the Germans end up footing the bill? It's a nightmarish prospect for Chancellor Angela Merkel. All eyes in Europe are now on her. As head of the continent's largest and most stable economy, she bears a big responsibility for the euro and for the European Union. But all the stabilizing measures and rescue packages agreed so far have done little to calm the financial markets. This week, Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy drew up a list of measures in response to the debt crisis. It involves restructuring economic and fiscal policy in Europe. Germany and France want to press for closer economic integration within the eurozone. The two leaders want bi-annual meetings of the 17 heads of the eurozone governments, chaired by Herman van Rompuy, the current president of the European Council. They have also advocated a tax on financial transactions and a binding debt ceiling for all eurozone members. It's an attempt to achieve stability at a time when there's little evidence of it in Europe. Greece, Portugal and Ireland have already availed of bailouts. Now the crisis is threatening to batter Italy, Spain and even France - a country at the heart of Europe. Can the European Union withstand such financial shocks? The bloc now needs to reinvent itself and overhaul its structures. Germany's role as a guarantor of currency and financial stability is set to become ever more important. But many Germans are uneasy about that. Chancellor Merkel has appealed to the national responsibility of struggling euro zone countries to tackle their debt problems on their own and not to push them on to other member nations. Merkel has rejected the idea of introducing Eurobonds - jointly guaranteed by the 17 eurozone governments - to stabilize the euro. For Germany, the bonds would be expensive and they would also amount to a violation of current EU agreements. So far, the bloc has worked on the principle that every defaulter must be responsible for their own debts. Some members of Germany's Free Democratic Party (FDP) have even threatened to withdraw from the coalition with Merkel's conservatives over the issue.But if Germany doesn't take a stronger responsibility and leading role in Europe, could the eurozone unravel? Germany, which is hugely dependent on exports, would then be one of the biggest losers in the crisis. One way or the other, Germany must take a decision. There's simply too much at stake. What do you think? Debt Crisis - Europe's Fate in Berlin's Hands? Write to us at Quadriga@dw-world.deThe guests on the English-language show will be: Heike Göbel studied economics at Heidelberg University. She worked for two years at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy before completing a training program at the Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper. In April 1992, Göbel moved to the business desk of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. From 1994 she reported from Bonn and Berlin, specializing in financial and pensions policy. In 2002, Göbel returned to FAZ headquarters in Frankfurt as economic policy editor. She has won two major business journalism awards: the Karl Bräuer Prize (2005) and the Ludwig Erhard Prize (2006).Frank Paul Weber was born in France, and has worked as a correspondent for the Paris daily"La Tribune"since 1999. He first reported from Germany, and then from Italy. Before his career as a foreign correspondent, Weber was a research associate at universities in Paris, Berlin, Warsaw and New York. He lives and works in Berlin. Quentin Peel is the international affairs editor of the Financial Times. He is also an associate editor, responsible for leaders and features. He has worked at the FT since 1975. From 1976 to 1994, Peel worked as southern Africa correspondent, Africa editor, European Community correspondent and Brussels bureau chief, Moscow correspondent and chief correspondent in Germany. He returned to London to become foreign editor, and took up his current position in September 1998. Peel was born in 1948. He was educated at Queens'College Cambridge, where he studied economics, French and German.