"French president François Hollande's governing Socialist party has delivered a blistering assault on Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, accusing her of causing the single currency crisis that has been tearing Europe apart for more than three years, of acting selfishly and intransigently in her own political and German national interest, and demanding a 'showdown' with the 'chancellor of austerity'. (...) It calls into question the Franco-German alliance that has been at the heart of the EU for as long as it has existed and argues that France alone of the big EU countries has a government that is genuinely pro-European. (...) The paper reveals just how bad relations have become between Berlin and Paris, with Germany alarmed at the condition of the French economy and frustrated that Hollande appears unwilling to embark on the kind of radical structural reforms the Germans think are necessary. The French socialists' criticisms, in a draft paper on party policy on Europe ahead of a conference in June, came as Spain dramatically shifted its commitment to austerity."
Ian Traynor e Giles Tremlett, "France's Socialist party attacks 'selfish' German chancellor" (The Guardian, 26.4.2013).
