Pressure builds in Europe

August is usually a quiet time in Europe as most Europeans go on vacation, including leaders like France's new president, Francois Hollande. However, vacation time is over, and Hollande is facing some major issues, including the crisis in Syria, the announcement of major layoffs at Peugot, and riots in the city of Amiens, as I discussed on the BBC last week:


Hollande was criticized for going on vacation during a time of crisis in France and across Europe, but he is jumping right back into the fray, with a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/20/us-france-hollande-challenges-idUSBRE87J0IV20120820

Although expectations are low for the meeting, it comes as data on the European economy come out, which are expected to show that the European economy is stalled, or even shrinking.  This data will impact European Central Bank deliberations as noted in the Wall Street Journal "The European Central Bank meets in a little over two weeks, and the surveys are among the last top-tier data officials will have in hand as they weigh interest-rate cuts and new steps to stabilize Spanish and Italian bond markets."

Angela Merkel is also facing major pressures at home and related to the Euro crisis. She has faced the greatest pressures, due to Germany's key role in managing the crisis, but she has also faced an unraveling coalition at home as noted in another article from the Wall Street Journal "German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces one of the toughest choices of her career in the coming weeks: whether to risk the unraveling of the euro zone, or her government."

Another top issue is Greece - the next few weeks may decide whether or not Greece will remain in the Eurozone.  Hollande and Merkel will each have meetings with the Greek Prime Minister this week, as Greece struggles to meet it's debt reduction commitments and Samaras tries to convince his European partners that they should continue to provide bail-out funds:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/greeces-euro-fate-hangs-over-merkel-hollande-meet-032859601.html