Do you think Germany is going to withdraw away from the Euro?

There was a poll in June which found that 50% of the German public favours a return to the Deutsche Mark. This is significant because Germans have become increasingly frustrated over having to help bail out one EU economy after another: Greece, Ireland…and now Spain, Portugal and Belgium are having problems. On one hand, this has given Germany more power within the eurozone than it ever has before, since Germany’s economy has recovered nicely from the 2008 recession. German efforts to help bail these economies has enabled Germany to reshape EU policy to its liking. But support for Merkel’s CDU party has been shaky in regional elections. Merkel is now distracted by challenges to her party at the regional level, and this will take her attention away from the problems in the eurozone. But the reason her party is having problems is precisely because Germans are frustrated about bailing out other EU economies. I think this will force her to take a tough stance, and other EU countries may not like that.

I don’t think Germany will withdraw from the eurozone just yet, but the German public will force the government to get tough on high spending economies that might rely on Germany for a bailout. This might cause tension within the eurozone and threaten its success. Or, other countries will have to give in to German conditions and Germany will become more powerful within the eurozone, something that will make France and a few other countries uneasy.