What about a German Referendum?

It is all (still) about Europe, although investors are getting tired of the “old” story. When will Spain stop imploding, what about Greece, will the core be immune?

All the above questions and a few more are keeping Merkel busy. The question is, should Germany hold a referendum? From Spiegel.

Chancellor Angela Merkel wants Europe to move toward an ever closer union in a bid to solve the euro crisis. But she is already pushing at the limits of what is possible under the constitution. The debate about holding a referendum on transferring power to Brussels is gathering momentum in Germany.

Indeed, the chancellor is in a tricky position at the moment, as she fails to get the euro crisis under control. Of course, the Economist’s notion of a secret plan to break up the euro zone is purely fictitious. But it fits into the current debate, where more and more politicians from Germany’s coalition government are talking about radical steps to solve the euro crisis.

Officially, though, Merkel’s line is that she wants more Europe, not less. In the chancellor’s bid to save the common currency, she is willing to go to the very limits of what is permissible under the German constitution. That was made clear by her support for the permanent euro rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), and her pet project, the fiscal pact. But Merkel still wants more. “We need a political union,” she recently said on German public television station ARD. “That means we have to give up further competencies to Europe, step by step, in an ongoing process.”

Full article here.