Europese Commissie wil dat Duitsland binnenlandse vraag gaat stimuleren (en)
The European Commission has appeared to back suggestions from some member states, notably France, that Germany is too dependent on trade surpluses and needs to boost domestic demand to correct imbalances in the eurozone.
While not going so far as to describe the European economic powerhouse as the China of the eurozone, the EU executive in its latest quarterly report on the eurozone, a special issue looking the effects of the financial crisis on the member states that use the euro, said: "Action is also needed in member states that have accumulated large current account surpluses," clearly referring to Germany.
"In these countries, policies should aim to identify and implement structural reforms that help in strengthening domestic demand."
The report says that the imbalances in the eurozone exacerbated the effects of the crisis in Europe.
"Parts of the observed divergence of current accounts and competitiveness are a source of potential concern to the extent that they reflect underlying macroeconomic imbalances, which increased the vulnerability of Member States to the shocks of the crisis."
The concerns obliquely referring to Germany in the report reflect similar criticisms explicitly made of the Berlin made by France.
Last week, French finance minister Christine Lagarde, in an unusually blunt statement said that the central European nation should move to help out other member states with high deficits to improve their competitiveness by hiking domestic demand.
"Clearly Germany has done an awfully good job in the last 10 years or so, improving competitiveness, putting very high pressure on its labour costs. When you look at unit labour costs to Germany, they have done a tremendous job in that respect," she said in an interview with the Financial Times.
"[But] I'm not sure it is a sustainable model for the long term and for the whole of the group. Clearly we need better convergence."
The commission report also takes as a conclusion that better fiscal co-ordination is required across the member states.
"The crisis has underscored the need for reforms and co-ordination across member states. A co-ordinated and ambitious policy response would ease the necessary adjustment processes but would also boost the euro-area's long-term growth prospects."
"The need for substantial adjustment remains. It should involve a rebalancing of relative prices and demand across member states."
Such talk will be anaethema to some member states, notably the UK, outside the eurozone, who last week baulked at the inclusion of the word "economic governance" in a communique from EU premiers and presidents at their spring summit.
The commission report does not however let Greece and other deficit countries off the hook. Athens in particular is taken to task.
"Greece is in a league of its own here, combining large and persistent fiscal imbalances and protracted losses of competitiveness. "