Originally Posted by Chris

Germany can't agree to Eurobonds. Merkel is constitutionally forbidden to do so. This is why she speaks of such fiscal union as the desirable end of a process of integration rather than an immediate step towards integration.

For that level of sovereignty to be ceded, constitutional change requiring referendum would be needed in Germany. That cannot be done quickly and in the current climate, arguably cannot be done at all. In Germany as elsewhere the thirst for European integration is much stronger within the political class than in the population at large. Germans are already looking askance at the amount of their money thrown into a bottomless pit - they are only going to stand for so much more.