Bruges Group report says that Germany has benefitted most from the Euro

by Paul Goodman

The evidence for its claim is set out in a research paper called German Economic Policy and the Euro 1999-2010.  It claims that since the launch of the Euro -

• The German economy has grown faster than any other country in the Eurozone;
• Germany has been by far the largest exporting nation within the Eurozone;
• In the last three (recorded) years alone, Germany has run up massive trade surpluses with the other Eurozone countries averaging €100 billion per year;
• The ECB’s exchange rate policy favours German interests;
• Germany entered the euro at too low a rate of exchange, cementing its historic economic advantage and to the disadvantage of countries with smaller economies such as Greece and Ireland;
• The siting of the ECB in Frankfurt enabled Germany to influence policy regarding the Euro in its own interest.

Robert Oulds, Director of the Bruges Group, said -

“The Euro has effectively become a German currency empire which is draining the resources of the Eurozone’s smaller economies.

“The harm that German policy is causing is so severe that the Mediterranean-Rim countries are caught in a debt trap where their economies are suffering, they are incurring debt and must then impose austerity measures which further weaken their economies. Yet their economies will not grow so long as the Euro helps German manufacturers dominate the Eurozone.”