It is an irony of history that Germany was once the country imposing the stability pact, ... It was worried that other countries would derail the success of the euro... Now it's Germany itself that looks likely to be the culprit.

I guess it is a very significant move. You have to understand that Lafontaine as finance minister was disliked by the Germany corporate sector . . . What we did see in Germany is that the economic situation deteriorated quite sharply from October onwards. If you like, it was to some extent homemade.

Germany has signaled it is ready to move but that does not change our basic view

This is a special moment for me and I'm looking forward to representing my country in Germany next month.

High-tech industries are important for a country with high wages as Germany is, so there are good points which can be used for Germany as a whole. But of course it will be difficult to duplicate all the measures.

Germany has become a different country in the last seven years,