This petition is essential for the future of the EU and the future of Europe. Angela Merkel, in trying to preserve her prospects of re-election, is today framing the debate on the ongoing political crisis in a narrow focused and bigoted fashion. 'Should Germany pay for the profligacy of other EU member states? And if yes what guarantees should other EU member states provide to justify Germany's generosity.' This misses the point and puts the wrong question on the agenda.

The EURO was created as a currency for an economically heterogeneous bloc of countries. The European Central Bank conducted, for years, a monetary policy suited to Germany but not to the rest of the EURO countries.

It is not enough today to simply ask why should Germany pay for the sins of the south. What we need is the construction of an architecture of closer political and economic collaboration or the abolition of the EURO to return to countries some measure of democratic control over their economies and to allow them to devalue their currencies and slowly start re-building their industrial base.

Angela Merkel is getting in the way of both of these alternatives.
Option 1 she cannot agree to, without grow suffocating conditions, because she does not have the leadership or courage to sell debt mutualization to the German public.
Option 2 she cannot agree to because she needs to protect German banks from sovereign defaults, given their exposure to PIGS countries and German industry from increased competition in the case of devaluations.

For that reason she is doing a huge disservice to the people of Europe and the people of Germany and failing to break the deadlock. It is time for her to go and make room for a more selfless and statesmanly politician at the helm of Germany in this time of crisis.