No option but change for crisis Europe

In general, G20 meetings are distinguished by a polite facade of good feeling. […] However, this was not the case at the G20 in Los Cabos, which was marked by confrontation, controversy and occasionally gratuitous nastiness.

So writes La Stampa in the wake of the Mexico summit which saw European leaders roundly criticised for being too slow to put a stop to the Eurozone crisis and relaunch the European economy. The “nervous” atmosphere during discussions, “masked what was in fact a colossal power struggle which Europe has lost,” notes the Turin daily —

The Europeans were summarily knocked off their perch and put in the back seat by the coordinated action of the dynamic BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa), which have evolved from being a statistical entity to being a political one […]

In announcing a substantial increase in contributions to the International Monetary Fund, a stark contrast to the message of weakness from the euro, they will almost certainly obtain more votes within the IMF, while Europe’s influence will be consequently diminished. Largely prompted by internal conflict rather than external factors, Europe’s weakness reflects strongly opposing views on the immediate future of the European economy, and it was the failure to successfully overcome these divergences that led to European leaders being lectured at Los Cabos. […]

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Europe has emerged from the G20 without an excuse: the euro, which is fundamentally sound in terms of figures for overall debt and spending, is not the problem. The issue is rather the political pact that is supposed to bind Europeans together. The question is will they persist in their plans to become brothers or content themselves with their current status of cousins united by a common customs union. […]

Tasked with finding a means to overcome the terrible stasis that prevails in the EU, Mario Monti spoke of the choices that must be made over the next ten days, which will shortly be the subject of discussions at the 22 June summit which will see German French and Spanish leaders sit down with the Italian PM in Rome.

In contrast, Spanish daily La Vanguardia cheerfully argues that the G20 meeting was "a good start for the EU" —

… there was a formal declaration on an explicit compromise that aims to protect the monetary union, which should stem the speculation on the demise of the eurozone which has been increasingly prevalent. This speculation has added to the debt of struggling countries, because they no longer benefit from the stability a solid currency provides.

"Europe has opted for change", notes the Barcelona daily, reporting that the terms of the Greek memorandum may be renegotiated to facilitate its implementation, while proposals for the introduction of a European banking union in the latter half of this year have also been tabled. —

A lot depends on the success of the heavy agenda in the coming weeks. The G20 was a good start. Faced with difficult times and struggling with an institutional deficit, the EU has nonetheless demonstrated a desire for cohesion.