German politicians promised their voters that the euro would never lead to fiscal union or tax increases, yet aid to Greece would put those issues on the table.

德国政客向选民保证欧元不会导致财政联盟或是税收增加，但是帮助希腊的行为把问题都摆到了桌面上。

youdao

The currency union has also protected the competitiveness of German industry and so allowed the economy to grow, despite the stagnation of domestic demand.

货币联盟还保护了德国工业的竞争力，从而让德国经济在国内需求停滞的情况依然得以增长。

youdao

Tensions resurfaced over a Franco-German proposal to rewrite European Union treaties to make a bail-out fund for troubled euro-zone economies permanent.

德国德法提议改写欧盟协议，设立一个永久性的欧元区危机处理机制。这使得欧盟局势再次紧张起来。

youdao

The European Union predicts the German economy, Europe's largest, is likely to contract by 5.4 percent this year, a larger decline than the EU average.

VOA: standard.2009.05.04

Michael German of the American Civil Liberities Union says the American public does not fully understand what is at stake in the war against terrorism.

VOA: standard.2010.01.19

The government of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed on budget cuts and new taxes to bring Germany's deficit within the European Union limit of 3 percent of GDP.

VOA: standard.2010.06.16

This crisis has underlined that the EU, in large part, remains a Franco-German union.

BBC: Deadlock in the eurozone

Smaller nations - who increasingly play the role of onlookers - are concerned that if the European institutions are bypassed their influence will be weakened and that they will have joined a Franco-German union.

BBC: Eurozone solution in sight?

This week the Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen warned against proposals that bypass the EU. He and other smaller nations fear an EU that is increasingly a Franco-German union with France in a supportive role.

BBC: Resentment towards Germany