Silva takes stand against “Merkozy”

Following the example of Rome, Lisbon has moved to challenge the “Merkozy” couple and its vague attempt to control the destiny of the EU: Aníbal “Cavaco Silva has clearly taken up arms against Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy,” headlines Público. According to the Lisbon daily, the Portuguese President, while on a visit to Italy, expressed his concern over an "unrecognised EU board of directors, which treats community institutions with disdain and limits their room for manoeuvre." The head of state added that the emergence of this unmandated power was evidence of a "poorly chosen" and "dangerous" response to the European crisis.

According to Silva, the solution to the euro crisis should first and foremost be provided by "greater European economic governance," and a reinforcement of community method that would highlight the “pivotal role” played by the European Commission. This was “the speech that Europe needed,” announces an exultant Público. The newspaper argues that Cavaco knows “that fragile peripheral states like Portugal have everything to gain from a reinforcement of community institutions, and everything to lose if they are sidelined. This is probably the reason for his warning against the risk that power will be end up in the hands of member states — especially, the more powerful ones.”