If she had wanted to push ahead, plenty of areas energy, retailing and professional services, where Germany has some of the OECD's most protectionist regulations are ripe for reform.Not north v south but reform v laggardEurope's biggest economy is backsliding, and that sets a terrible example.
The biggest fear is of government backsliding.
To most Europeans, the big concern is that Turkey is backsliding on its commitment to liberal reform.
Their quietly excellent goalie, Braden Holtby, is their biggest weapon in avoiding a major backslide.
The AidWatch report singled out the two biggest countries in the eurozone – Germany and France – for backsliding on commitments they had made, and said it was worried that 14% of EU aid – €7.35bn – did not reach developing countries.
But South America's biggest trade block, beset by bickering and backsliding, is still a long way from regaining the importance it had in the 1990s.Back then, trade between the four founding members Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay was an engine of economic growth.
Of course, if gasoline stays relatively affordable, Americans may resist the small-engine gospel and backslide into big V-8s.
For some car buyers, the big drop in price may easily offset the backsliding.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said the American proposal would simply stimulate the development of devices that met the new standards but might still be lethally unreliable; and backsliding from the Oslo rules would set a bad precedent.The big countries were cross.
After cycling's minority status was swept away with the arrival of Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish on the biggest stage, the next target was to ensure there was no backsliding into relative obscurity.
