It wasn&rsquo;t the most subtle idea developed by German diplomats. The suggestion that a special euro zone commissioner might take control of Greece&rsquo;s Budget was met in Athens with predictable outrage. Athens has failed to implement its bailout, and hasn&rsquo;t done anything to combat the scourge of tax fraud. Europeans everywhere are tiring of pouring into Greece the money its citizens are sending abroad. But, the Kommissar proposal&rsquo;s insensitivity is a reminder the new lone German leadership of the euro zone will need some adjusting.

The awkward leader

Business Standard

The Greek parliament has approved yet another austerity package. The governments of the euro zone and investors around the world can just about pretend that all is now well. The agreement on Greek reforms, which opens the way for a package of private creditor concessions and new public money, is supposed to bring the country&rsquo;s debt back to a sustainable level. But, this is little more than wishful thinking. European leaders are sighing with cowardly relief, hoping that they have finally insulated themselves from the Greek problem.

Not over yet

French bankers, traders and hedge fund managers should resist the urge to book a one-way flight out of Paris if Francois Hollande becomes president in May. The French socialist leader has identified the &ldquo;world of finance&rdquo; as his main adversary &ndash; simultaneously discarding outgoing president Nicolas Sarkozy and stealing a theme from his upcoming campaign. Tapping into anti-bank sentiment is a popular political strategy. But, the wrath of blind punitive socialist justice isn&rsquo;t about to descend on French finance. In fact, the serious reforms Hollande proposed aren&rsquo;t particularly scary, and the scary ones he hinted at aren&rsquo;t serious.

Don't book now

The euro zone is turning into a cult whose members think the best way to survive is to chant hymns to austerity to the rhythm of a German tambourine. Having just agreed on the terms of a &lsquo;fiscal compact&rsquo; to reinforce budgetary discipline and avoid another life-or-death experiment, some member governments seem to be eager to implement it without waiting. Spain looks set to become the first victim of deficit target fetishism. Other countries could follow. But insisting on corrective measures and even more austerity just to meet targets will cripple the economy, which in turn will make the targets impossible to meet.

The sect

Rarely has the meaning of an election been so contrary to its official result. Vladimir Putin was elected to a third term as the Russian president on March 4, with around 65 per cent of the recorded votes. But, this apparent crowning is also the beginning of the end. The strong man of the Kremlin now appears so out of touch with his country that he is unlikely to serve his full six-year term.

Nearing end

We will pretend to boost the bailout fund, and they'll pretend to believe us. This seems to be the hope of euro zone finance ministers trying to come up with a formula to boost the monetary union's rescue facility beyond its theoretical 500 billion euros.

Numbers trick

Keep the mystique of the Rothschild name while managing it like a luxury brand: this seems to be the goal of the investment bank&rsquo;s decision to fold its French and British arms into a single, listed entity.

What's in a name?

It may be a good thing that financial markets suddenly seemed to realise this week that the euro zone crisis is far from over. Reforming the sick economies of Europe will take years and there will be setbacks along the way. Renewed tensions in Spanish and Italian government bond markets, and to a lesser extent in the French one, were a helpful reminder that trust is something indebted governments must strive to earn every day.

Stop the folly

Euro zone governments must be secretly wishing IG Metall well. Germany&rsquo;s metalworkers union plans a series of industrial actions this week to back its demand for a 6.5 per cent wage increase. What&rsquo;s good for German workers can&rsquo;t be bad for Europe, at least if they don&rsquo;t save all of the extra money and do spend part of it. And higher German wages would help reduce the competitiveness differences across the euro zone.

Slowly moving

The media expect a drama and markets hope for a plan. Francois Hollande&rsquo;s first European Union summit is unlikely to deliver either. It will not produce a miraculous solution to the euro crisis, or a blueprint for Greece to remain in the euro zone, and it won&rsquo;t agree on a strategy for boosting growth in the region. But it also will not end in a showdown between Paris and Berlin on the question of euro bonds, which France favours and Germany opposes for the time being. The main reason is that it&rsquo;s hard to agree or disagree without a common understanding of what the bonds should be.

Non-binding bonds

The French have chosen a socialist president without any experience of executive power and little taste or knowledge of international matters. When one considers where the certified &ldquo;experienced&rdquo; leaders have led Europe in the last three years, this shouldn&rsquo;t be much of a worry. But if newly-elected Fran&ccedil;ois Hollande thinks he can plan for a few months of learning on the job, the situation in Greece is a pressing reminder that he should cut the training period short.

No time to waste

Nicolas Sarkozy&rsquo;s unpopularity was not the only reason that on Sunday made him the first sitting president not to lead in the initial round of a French presidential election. In the five years of his term, which coincided with the financial crisis, voters certainly came to resent Sarko&rsquo;s &ldquo;bling-bling&rdquo; style, his haphazard ways and half-hearted reforms. But the main lesson of the vote is the massive rejection of the European Union and European Central Bank&rsquo;s current prescribed policies of reforms and austerity. Whoever the next president is &mdash; the odds still favour Hollande &mdash; this massive &ldquo;non&rdquo; will weigh on his policies, and open a new phase in the euro zone crisis.

Occupy L'Elysee

Euro zone members won&rsquo;t meet their fiscal targets, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they should all force themselves to be even more austere. This is the message the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is sending to Europe&rsquo;s troubled economies. Both, disciplinarian central bankers and populist politicians should take note. Austerity remains a must. But too much, too fast will be lethal.

Do's and don't

The case for the Euro zone to step in and help recapitalise Spanish banks should have been a no-brainer. Spain is in a bind of its own making, but the challenge of turning its economy around has been magnified by the crisis. As for the Euro zone, it has the instruments and the money to help Madrid recapitalise the country&rsquo;s banks, leaving the government to tend to its own business.

Misplaced orgullo

To be successful, Spain&rsquo;s bank bailout should be a takeover. Euro zone governments have so far been vague about the exact &ldquo;conditionality&rdquo; they will attach to recapitalising the country&rsquo;s lenders. Nonetheless, that vagueness is indicative of the direction they&rsquo;re heading. There&rsquo;s the classic restructuring of the banking sector, which will be supervised by the European Commission&rsquo;s competition authorities.

Don't drop the money and run

Avoiding the great Greek scare hasn&rsquo;t allowed the Euro zone to breathe a sigh of relief on Spain. Yields on the country&rsquo;s 10-year bonds are now reaching 7.2 per cent. The Spanish government has already done a lot. The extra steps it could take are of marginal importance in the current context.

Grand plan

Euro zone leaders pulled another rabbit out of their collective hat this week by striking yet another deal. They have managed to buy themselves more time &mdash; but buying time is the name of the game since the beginning of the euro crisis, which forces governments to both address the immediate crisis and redress the flawed euro architecture. On the face of it, Germany has made the concessions needed to help Italy and Spain breathe this summer, and sweep the larger French problem under the carpet. But Angela Merkel can always demand its pound of flesh at a later stage.

Stronger levee

Barring a major accident, the euro zone will soon have a new banking regulator. And Mario Draghi will crown a happy summer. The president of the European Central Bank has already shored up the euro and outflanked the Bundesbank&rsquo;s opposition to his new bond-buying policy. He may soon get the last tool he needs to do &ldquo;whatever it takes&rdquo;, as he said, to keep the euro zone together.

Should bite

Mariano Rajoy is running out of excuses. The Spanish prime minister had asked the Euro zone to prove that it stood by him, as he tried to take the country out of its property and banking mess. The European Central Bank has answered Rajoy&rsquo;s call with a plan to buy bonds - and time - for countries that agree to reform. But the Spanish leader keeps dithering. He hopes that after the country&rsquo;s bank bailout, he can avoid requesting a sovereign one. His fears are political: he doesn&rsquo;t want the International Monetary Fund involved in the rescue.

Take the chance

The verdict against the three members of Russian rock group Pussy Riot confirms that Vladimir Putin doesn&rsquo;t get it. The performance artists sat in jail for five months, awaiting trial for staging a politically motivated impromptu concert in an Orthodox church earlier this year. They have now been sentenced to a two-year prison term for hooliganism and &ldquo;insulting believers&rsquo; feelings&rdquo;. This may be the day that Putin&rsquo;s benign autocracy shifted to beginner&rsquo;s despotism. Investors cannot pretend this doesn&rsquo;t matter.

Whither riots?

Free at last. Less than a year after becoming president of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi can move to the second phase of his term &mdash; his plan for an ambitious sovereign bond-buying programme. He will not meet a unified German opposition at the ECB governing council meeting next week. That will add to the plan&rsquo;s credibility, and in the longer term allow Draghi a freer hand in running the central bank.

Pierre Briancon