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Thoughts on the Eurozone ...
by Jane Gregory on 21 December 2011
I am a self-confessed Francophile! I studied French (amongst other European languages) and I have lived in France on and off. I have close French and German friends, I travel to Europe regularly and as you would expect the recent events, especially some of the slightly disturbing messages by the French about the credit worthiness of the UK, have left me feeling a little bit unsettled.
How is the future going to pan out? I think Mr Cameron was between a rock and a hard place at the recent Eurozone Conference. But it has made me think that the British are in a strange and unique position. We have always been slightly on the fringes. For a start we are an island. We speak English (of course!) and we have always had a good relationship with the USA. We want to be part of the Europe, but with a certain amount of autonomy.
Europe is a major trading partner for us and we need to endeavour to show support for the crisis. That goes without saying and so we need to find some form of compromise. I am heartened by the German Foreign Minister’s subsequent comment that he wants to “build bridges over troubled waters”. It’s particularly encouraging as we should not forget that many of the European countries have a banking presence in the UK and are major employers. The worry has to be that they may develop these centres in other European countries.
Either way, I still feel concerned. The UK will at least participate in the “technical” discussions, although they won’t have a vote. 2011 has certainly been a year when “a lot happened” and only time will tell where our future lies.
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