‘No credit, Herr Hollande. Not for Greece and not for France either.’ On 16 May 2012, the day after the first meeting between President Hollande and Chancellor Merkel in Berlin, French cartoonist Delize illustrates the French President’s desire to reopen negotiations on the European pact for budgetary discipline in order to incorporate measures to stimulate growth. The French plan clashes with the policy of monetary orthodoxy advocated by Chancellor Merkel, who is refusing to pool part of Europe’s debt by issuing Eurobonds, which would cut costs by generating economies of scale. For Merkel, the situation is clear: there is no question of Germany paying for the continent’s spendthrift countries, whether Greece or France.