Catherine Stihler, Scottish Labour MEP

The action by the German Government to ban naked short selling was commended by some and fiercely condemned by others. The courage to take on speculators is vitally important in a time of economic crisis. However acting unilaterally in the eurozone appeared more like flying a red rag in the face of a bull than an act of cooperative action.

The challenges faced by the eurozone are becoming more political than economic.

In a recent article Jurgen Habermas was asked whether the Greek debt crisis would doom the European project. He said Greece’s debt crisis has had a welcome political side effect at one of its weakest moments. The European Union has been plunged into a discussion concerning the central problem of its future development.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to see the wood from the trees.

As a member of a country who is not part of the eurozone and yet even in the crisis remain supportive of the euro, I find it galling listening to those who look on the eurozone and say ‘we told you so’. It is galling because they ignore our interconnectedness with the eurozone at their peril. An unstable eurozone is bad for all members of the European Union and for the world at large. The discussions on our future depend on us all working together, eurozone and non-eurozone like. What a bleak day it would have been across the European Union in 2008 if there had not been a eurozone? Would we not be in a far greater and larger economic crisis if it was not for the euro? Is our real problem not a fiscal one related to how EU governments run their economies with an aging population, growing youth unemployment and outdated welfare systems which need to reform to make work pay and to support those who are unemployed get back to work

In conclusion, Angel Merkel’s action should be a wakeup call to the rest of the eurozone and to the European Parliament who will be considering legislation on this area. As Ruth Sutherland in The Observer comments, the German Chancellor is not knave  about the workings of capitalism.  The credit default swaps holding the eurozone governments’ hostage are opaque, unregulated and ripe for reform. Will the European Parliament rise to the challenge and back regulation on these financial weapons of mass destruction?  Watch this space…