EU SUPERSTATE (step 1): Fury over plans for European-wide ‘tax harmonisation’

The United States of Europe is well underway and its respective European Army now under construction — all courtesy of Germany’s Fourth Reich. The tax harmonization scheme, in this case, is one of the needed economic cornerstones of the new European superstate.

If you’re been following Global Geopolitics for a few years now this will have come as no surprise. The only new element is that we’re no longer in the planning stage, but somewhere between the deployment and implementation phases.

 

PROPOSALS to introduce a European Union-wide tax system has infuriated British taxpayers – who fear the move is yet another flagrant step in Brussels’ attempt to build a Euro-superstate.

The controversial system, which is described in EU documents as the “harmonisation of European taxation”, was put forward by the EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee last week.

The group’s explanatory statement reads: “Building economic and monetary union must be achieved through a harmonisation of European taxation. Fair and effective corporate taxation must become the cornerstone of the single market.

Father of the euro fears EU superstate by the back door

The great European project, The United States of Europe, is right around the corner — be it ‘back door’ or through democratic process.

 

Otmar Issing believes Germany would be better off staying in the euro Photo: AFP

 

Professor Otmar Issing has warned against handing over control of tax and spending before a democratic political union has been established

The euro’s founding father has warned that Europe’s latest plan for an EMU-wide finance ministry is a dangerous attempt to smuggle through political union, and breaches the basic tenets of modern democracy.

Professor Otmar Issing, the chief architect of monetary union through its early years, said it would be “dangerous” to transfer control over tax and spending to the EU federal level before full political union has been established first on democratic foundations.

Such a quantum leap in the constitutional structure of Europe – effectively the creation of an EU superstate, with a parliament comparable in power to the US Congress – is unthinkable in the current political atmosphere.

Italy in favour of European Monetary Fund

Italy is in favour of tighter European integration and the creation of a European Monetary Fund, its finance minister said Tuesday.

“The monetary union will sooner or later have to be based on common elements… in my opinion a European monetary fund, an insurance mechanism against the shocks of the labour markets, shared budget resources,” Pier Carlo Padoan said.

Collapse of Greece is Part of German Plan to Change Eurozone – Varoufakis

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has an ambitious plan to change the European Monetary Union and the collapse of Greece was part of it, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis wrote in an article.

Tsipras tells Merkel ‘Greece has made enough sacrifices for the euro’

Greece’s defiant Prime Minister has told Angela Merkel it is Europe’s job to do “their part” to keep his crisis-hit country in the eurozone.

Meeting on the sidelines of a European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Alexis Tsipras is reported to have told the German Chancellor his debt-addled nation has made enough sacrifices to satisfy the demands of its creditor powers.

Greece draws up drachma plans, prepares to miss IMF payment

‘We are a Left-wing government. If we have to choose between a default to the IMF or a default to our own people, it is a no-brainer,’ says senior Greek official

Greece is drawing up drastic plans to nationalise the country’s banking system and introduce a parallel currency to pay bills unless the eurozone takes steps to defuse the simmering crisis and soften its demands.

Sources close to the ruling Syriza party said the government is determined to keep public services running and pay pensions as funds run critically low. It may be forced to take the unprecedented step of missing a payment to the International Monetary Fund next week.

The Fourth Reich Is Here, Says German Newsmagazine

Modern Germany is a new reich, at least in an economic sense, Der Spiegel concluded in the cover article of its March 21 issue.

With a circulation of over 1 million, Der Spiegel is one of Germany’s most popular and well-respected newsmagazines. An English version of the article is available on its website, and is worth reading in full.

“People have even begun talking about the ‘Fourth Reich,’ a reference to the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler,” states the article’s introduction. “That may sound absurd given that today’s Germany is a successful democracy without a trace of national-socialism—and that no one would actually associate Merkel with Nazism. But further reflection on the word ‘reich,’ or empire, may not be entirely out of place. The term refers to a dominion, with a central power exerting control over many different peoples. According to this definition, would it be wrong to speak of a German Reich in the economic realm?”

Greece Gambles On “Catastrophic Armageddon” For Europe, Warns It “Only Has Weeks Of Cash Left”

One of the bigger problems facing the new, upstart Greek government, which has set before itself the lofty goal of overturning 6 years of oppressive European policies and countless generations of Greek cronyism, corruption and tax-evasion is not so much the concern about deposit outflows and bank runs – even though it most certainly will be in the next few days unless the Tsipras government finds some resolution to the dramatic standoff with Merkel and the ECB – but something far more trivial: running out of money.

Recall that two weeks into the Greek elections, Greece was rocked by a dire, if entirely underappreciated development, when its already “tax-paying challenged” population decided to completely hold off paying any taxes in advance hopes that the Tsipras government will “overturn” austerity. We wrote:

… while there will be no official confirmation whether Greece did or did not have a bank run for months, unless of course some bank keels over and dies in the interim, one thing is certain: with an increasing probability they may not have a “continuity-promoting” government in less than two weeks, Greeks tax remittances to the government, which were almost non-existent to begin with, have ground to a halt!

EU has squandered last chance to make euro workable, warns Ex-Bundesbank chief

Further integration is always the answer Germany gives as it continues to takeover Europe piece by piece. It portrays continual integration as key to survival, but then chips away at the national sovereignty of other nations in exchange for being part of this ‘elite club’. If they choose not to continue membership, then it will lead to full-blown civil unrest as receiving no aide will cause economies to go into full depression. This doesn’t bode good for member states such as Greece where the political leadership wants to hold on to its power, yet ironically gives it up at the expense of citizens.

It’s quite clear by now that the ‘European Project’ was never going to work, but that was the intention from conception. In the end, guess who’s back? Germany. All roads lead back to Berlin and the Fourth Reich is here with a smarter approach.

 

The former head of the German Bundesbank has warned that the European Central Bank (ECB) will not succeed in raising inflation for years to come and is almost powerless to revive the fortunes of the eurozone on its own.

Axel Weber, now chairman of UBS and widely-regarded as Europe’s most influential private banker, said Europe’s leaders had squandered the chance to rebuild the eurozone’s foundations when the going was good and markets were calm.

In an ominous sign, he appeared to lose confidence in the euro altogether, cautioning that monetary union will be tested repeatedly and may not survive unless EMU leaders agree to bite the bullet on full fiscal and political union.

Banks prepare plans for Greek eurozone exit

A new Greek currency? Plausible. Grexit? As oft here discussed, Greece is too important for that.

 

Banks and other financial institutions in Europe are stress-testing their internal systems and dusting off two-year-old contingency plans for the possibility Greece could leave the region’s monetary union after a key election later this month.

Among the firms running through drills are Citigroup Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,  and brokerage ICAP PLC, according to people familiar with the matter.

World braces as deflation tremors hit Eurozone bond markets

‘The forces of monetary deflation are gathering. Global liquidity is declining and central banks are not doing enough, either in the West or the East to offset the decline,’ warns CrossBorderCapital

Eurozone fears have returned with a vengeance as deepening deflation across Southern Europe and fresh turmoil in Greece set off wild moves on the European bond markets.

Yields on 10-year German Bund plummeted to an all-time low on 0.72pc on flight to safety, touching levels never seen before in any major European country in recorded history. “This is not going to stop until the European Central Bank steps up to the plate. If it does not act in the next few days, this could snowball,” said Andrew Roberts, credit chief at RBS.

…

Calls for action came as James Bullard, the once hawkish head of St Louis Federal Reserve, said the Fed may have to back-track on bond tapering in the US, hinting at yet further QE to fight deflationary pressures and shore up defences against a eurozone relapse.

France’s triumphant ‘Joan of Arc’ vows to bring back franc and destroy euro

Marine Le Pen is spoiling for a fight. The leader of France’s Front National vows to smash the existing order of Europe and force the break-up of monetary union, if she wins the next election.

It is no longer an implausible prospect. “We cannot be seduced,” she said, brimming with confidence after her party secured 46pc of the vote in a by-election earthquake a week ago. Her candidate trounced the ruling Socialists in their own bastion of Villeneuve-sur-Lot.

“The euro ceases to exist the moment that France leaves, and that is our incredible strength. What are they going to do, send in tanks?” she told the Daily Telegraph at the Front National’s headquarters, an unmarked building tucked away in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. Her office is small and workaday, almost austere.

Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit as Euro Weakens (Update 1)

“We’re really getting to a denouement,” Michael O’Sullivan, head of portfolio strategy at Credit Suisse Private Banking, said today in a Bloomberg Television interview. “We’re getting to the part where a decision has to be made” on whether Greece leaves the 17-nation currency union, he said.

…

A Greek departure from the euro could trigger a default- inducing surge in bond yields, capital flight that might spread to other indebted states and a resultant series of bank runs. Although Greece accounts for 2 percent of the euro-area’s economic output, its exit would fragment a system of monetary union designed to be irreversible and might cause investors to raise the threat of withdrawal by other states.

Full article: Euro Officials Begin to Weigh Greek Exit as Euro Weakens (Update 1) (Bloomberg)

Insider’s secret advice to Merkel: Get used to it

LONDON (MarketWatch) — In the wake of the first round of the French presidential election, a leaked document from Berlin, conveniently and somewhat revealingly translated into English, has found its way into MarketWatch’s hands.

Confidential Memo to Chancellor

Bundeskanzleramt, Berlin, 23 April 2012

From [ ] NAME BLACKED OUT

Esteemed Bundeskanzlerin, I am sorry. The results of the first round do not look good. I have to tell you that French elections traditionally propel change in the Franco-German monetary alignment. One of the reasons for monetary union in Europe was, as you may recall, to free us from the old style of doing things. But France is an old nation, and old patterns die hard. The French seem to be becoming more French, just as we are growing more German. So I would get ready, distinguished lady, for another change now.

Full article: Insider’s secret advice to Merkel: Get used to it (Market Watch)

‘Germany Has Been the Winner in the Globalization Process’

SPIEGEL: What advice would you give Merkel and her counterparts? Should they tear the euro zone apart?

Rogoff: No, certainly not. We are talking about bending not breaking, with one or more periphery countries allowed to leave temporarily in order to enjoy greater flexibility. There is currently no simple solution for this unparalleled crisis. The big mistakes were made in the 1990s.

SPIEGEL: Does that mean the whole idea of the euro was a mistake?

Rogoff: No, a common currency for countries like Germany and France was a reasonable risk, given the political dividends. But it was a grave mistake to bring all the south European states into the euro zone purely for reasons of political union. Most of them were not ready for it economically.

SPIEGEL: That may well be, but the fact is that now they are part of the monetary union, and that can’t simply be unravelled.

Rogoff: Which is why there is only one alternative: Either the euro completely collapses — with all the catastrophic consequences that would entail — or the core members of the currency union manage to turn the euro zone into a genuine political union.

SPIEGEL: Europe has recently agreed on a fiscal compact committing all members to better budgetary discipline. Is that a step in the right direction?

Rogoff: Yes, but it will by no means suffice. All this treaty does is give the markets the temporary illusion that the problems have been solved for now. It has achieved nothing more than that.

SPIEGEL: What is needed instead?

Rogoff: What the monetary union needs more than anything is a central government, including a a finance minister, with significant tax and spending authority. The individual countries should also stop insisting on national control of banking regulation. That is a matter that should be dealt with exclusively at European level.

SPIEGEL: Do you honestly believe that the countries in the euro zone can bring themselves to hand over that much more power to Brussels?

Rogoff: The terrible thing is that few countries in Europe seem genuinely prepared for that. Those politicians who know what is needed keep quiet, fearing opposition from the voters. But the pressure of this crisis will create a momentum whose scope and impact we cannot yet imagine. At the end of the day, the United States of Europe may well come about a lot quicker than many would have thought.

Full article: ‘Germany Has Been the Winner in the Globalization Process’ (Spiegel Online)