Defiance of the Merkozy dictatorship isn’t such a bad idea

WHICH part of this deal did they think might appeal to us?

The outcome of the 15th consecutive EU summit to resolve the eurozone crisis fails to meet any Irish requirement. The government is sleepwalking towards a referendum defeat, unsustainable national debts and ever diminishing economic sovereignty. The only discernible strategy is the usual “make it up as we go along — hoping something will turn up”. It’s increasingly apparent that our dependence on the kindness of strangers is being met by Franco German self-interest that disregards concerns of smaller European states. Yet, we give them a blank cheque of compliance.

It seems Irish delegations suspend their critical faculties in assessing consequences for us of EU pacts. The latest fiscal compact set out financial disciplines for each of 17 eurozone countries. The rules are clear: sovereign debt must be limited to 60% of GDP; annual budget deficits cannot exceed 0.5% of GDP; if the public deficit exceeds 3% of GDP there will be automatic penalties and sanctions. Let’s do the simple mathematics. Our GDP stands at €170bn, while our gross government debt is set to exceed €200bn by 2014. Our obligation, under these rules, is to reduce the national debt to €102bn. Last month the current budget deficit stood at €21.4bn, this must be cut to €850m.