Ferdinando Giugliano, Columnist

German Support Unlocks Euro-Zone Change

Germany had been an obstacle to more fiscal integration in Europe. Not any more.

January 18, 2018 at 6:00 AM UTC

Ferdinando Giugliano is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He was previously a member of the editorial board of the Financial Times.

Proponents of euro-zone change.
Photographer: Steffi Loos

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We may have no idea which shape the euro zone will take in the future, but we know one thing for sure: Any change to the structure of the currency union will need to be agreed to by Germany, the bloc's biggest economy and the largest contributor to the EU budget.

This simple fact makes the section on Europe in the draft coalition agreement between Germany's Christian Democratic Union (and its sister Christian Social Union) and the Social Democratic Party required reading. The overall impression is positive: Germany's largest parties seem keen to go further on the road to euro-zone integration than ever before.