Europe must be about more than cash transfers: Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday that the European Union must be about more than just a system for transferring wealth from richer members to their struggling partners.
In an interview with three major European newspapers, Merkel said: "Joining the eurozone isn't about creating a union made up of financial transfers."
Merkel's warning came as she faced strong domestic opposition to Germany's participation in the IMF-led bail-out of debt-ridden Greece and the creation of the eurozone's trillion-dollar emergency stabilisation fund.
European leaders have tried to sell both measures to voters as essential tools to protect national economies from speculative attacks and reassure banks that eurozone states will not default on their debts.
But there is resentment in relatively wealthy states such as Germany that strugglers such as Greece and eventually Portugal or Spain might get bail-outs after years of overspending on generous welfare and pension systems.
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