Worries on Austerity in France and the Netherlands

The French and Dutch governments are growing increasingly uncomfortable with the evolution of the economic situation in the eurozone. The economic crisis is already having political consequences in the eurozone's periphery, and Paris and The Hague fear that popular discontent could spread to northern Europe. This situation will lead France and the Netherlands to exert greater political pressure on Germany to relax its push for austerity across Europe, a move that could harm the position of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government ahead of Germany's September general elections.