Germany after the Greek summit – the helpless hegemon

The deal struck with Greece overnight on 12 and 13 July has proven that Germany has an ever stronger position in the eurozone and is backed by an increasing number of other countries. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who wanted the support of German public opinion for loans to be granted to Greece, pushed through strict conditions on aid being granted. The deal has been positively received in Germany, and this will make it possible to maintain the consensus inside Germany regarding the strategy on the eurozone crisis, which is based on the slogan: loans for reforms. However, some doubt remains as to whether this deal will bring the eurozone closer to resolving the problem of Greece, which is in fact an insolvent and unreformed country, and which in addition to all this has an ace up its sleeve in the form of there being no legal option to remove it from the monetary union. There is still no deeper reflection in Germany as to how the eurozone can be further reformed beyond pushing through reforms and austerity measures.

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