So far, the most concrete plans have been put forward by the CDU, and Westerwelle has adopted a few of their ideas for himself. The CDU's proposal suggests the following, among other things:
The right to take violations of the Stability and Growth Pact to the European Court of Justice;
Tougher sanctions against notorious debt limit violators, which would range from removing their voting rights to the appointment of an EU "austerity commissioner;"
A multi-level restructuring process for countries with debt problems: In the event that a country faces insolvency, the EU austerity commissioner would have far-reaching rights to intervene in the country's financial policies;
A greater capacity to take action: In those areas in the Council of Ministers, the powerful body comperised of leaders of the 27 EU member states, where decisions currently need to be unanimous, a qualified majority would be sufficient;
A separate chamber within the European Parliament which would only be for the European parliamentarians from the euro-zone countries;
The transformation of the planned European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into a European Monetary Fund.
Rachel Katzoff on 18 Oct 10This article is about the importance of Germany to the EU and the relationship between East Germany and the EU. The article makes the point that East Germans did not have to gain acceptance to the EU, but rather when East and West Germany came together, they were automatically accepted whereas other former Soviet-block countries had to work hard for membership and they had to become more "European" in a pragmatic sense.
