Chancellor Angela Merkel wants to revitalise the eurozone’s weaker countries with a package of privatisations, according to German weekly Der Spiegel. This would be overseen by an agency modelled on the Treuhand or “trust agency” which sold off most of the East’s state-owned businesses. Berlin also wants to relax employment laws to bring them in line with the German model and to set up special economic zones to lure investors with tax incentives and less red tape. The proposals are likely to prove controversial with electorates who will be unwilling to be effectively told to follow a more German way of life. The ... (full story)