In the two years of attempts at crisis management in Europe, politicians have frequently spoken, slightly fatuously, about ‘saving time’. Enterprises around Europe have been less inclined than governments to waste it, by diversifying their businesses outside Europe. Our coverage this month demonstrates shifting trade ties outside core Europe by Germany and Poland, in contributions from Pawel Kowalewski and Zuzanna Gremiec and the DZ Bank economics team.
The Bulletin has a strong Germanic flavour, befitting the holding of our second main meeting at the Bundesbank in Frankfurt on 14-15 March. Stewart Fleming hails the upgrading of German growth prospects since the start of the year. Gerhard Schröder, the former German Chancellor, sets down his vision for a more integrated Europe, Paul Betts writes on the alliance between Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy in the French elections, while John Kornblum compares Merkel with Barack Obama. Stefan Bielmeier and Michael Kaimakliotis focus on clouds on the international growth outlook, and Christopher Tugendhat asks whether Germany can afford to put the European Union’s achievements at risk.