Will the European Union make it? The question would have sounded strange not long ago. Now even the project’s greatest cheerleaders talk of a continent facing a “Bermuda triangle” of debt, population decline and lower growth.

    As well as those chronic problems, the EU faces an acute crisis in its economic core, the 16 countries that use the single currency. Markets have lost faith that the euro zone’s economies, weaker or stronger, will one day converge thanks to the discipline of sharing a single currency, which denies uncompetitive members the quick fix of devaluation.

    Yet the debate about how to save Europe’s single currency from disintegration is stuck. It is stuck because the euro zone’s dominant powers, France and Germany, agree on the need for greater harmonisation within the euro zone, but disagree about what to harmonise.

    Germany thinks the euro must be saved by stricter rules on borrowing, spending and competitiveness, backed by quasi-automatic sanctions for governments that do not obey. These might include threats to freeze EU funds for poorer regions and EU mega-projects, and even the suspension of a country’s voting rights in EU ministerial councils. It insists that economic co-ordination should involve all 27 members of the EU club, among whom there is a small majority for free-market liberalism and economic rigour; in the inner core alone, Germany fears, a small majority favour French interference.

    A “southern” camp headed by French wants something different: “European economic government” within an inner core of euro-zone members. Translated, that means politicians intervening in monetary policy and a system of redistribution from richer to poorer members, via cheaper borrowing for governments through common Eurobonds or complete fiscal transfers. Finally, figures close to the France government have murmured, euro-zone members should agree to some fiscal and social harmonisation: e.g., curbing competition in corporate-tax rates or labor costs.

    It is too soon to write off the EU. It remains the world’s largest trading block. At its best, the European project is remarkably liberal: built around a single market of 27 rich and poor countries, its internal borders are far more open to goods, capital and labour than any comparable trading area. It is an ambitious attempt to blunt the sharpest edges of globalisation, and make capitalism benign.

答案精析：根据关键词Germany proposed定位到第四段第一句。定位句指出了德国的提议：在借贷、开销和竞争力上执行更严格的规则，并制裁那些不遵守规则的国家。总结起来即要在法规上更加严厉，stricter rules与stricter regulations为同义替换，因此B选项正确。

错项排除：A项的关键词funds for poor regions出现在第五段的法国的提议中，而德国对funds的态度是威胁冻结，所以排除。原文第四段最后一句指出，德国坚持经济协调应involve all 27 members（包括所有27个成员国），并非只包括核心成员，故C选项错误。第四段第二句指出，德国建议的规定包括the suspension of a country’s voting rights（暂停某个国家的投票权），并非保障，D项与原文相反，故错误。