European Commissioner Thierry Breton calls on Germany to accept the implementation of exceptional loans in the context of the coronavirus crisis. – Virginia Mayo / AP / SIPA
Two European commissioners, including Frenchman Thierry Breton, plead on Monday for the use of a European loan to deal with the coronavirus crisis in a forum published in the press, where the German government is criticized for
his opposition to “corona bonds”.
Without appealing directly to Germany, the European internal market commissioners Thierry Breton and the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, ask the 27 EU member states to show “solidarity” by creating a European fund financed by the and capable of issuing long-term bonds, in a forum published in Germany by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and The world in France. According to the commissioners, this fund should only be used to finance economic development after the crisis.
Pooling of debts
Some European states, including France and Italy, have recently asked Germany and some northern European countries to pool certain debts in the face of the economic consequences of the pandemic.
This pooling, in the form of “corona bonds”, is strongly rejected by Germany, the Netherlands and other northern countries, more virtuous on a budgetary level. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised a European “Marshall Plan” on Friday, via the EU budget for 2021 to 2027, to boost the economy after the crisis.
Moreover, Mr. Breton and Mr.Gentiloni see their concept serving as a “complement” to that launched by Ms. von der Leyen. According to them, the sums involved are such that the EU needs a “fourth pillar” in addition to the three others made up of the MES (European Stability Mechanism) relief fund, the European Investment Bank and the short-term EU initiative to secure member states’ partial unemployment plans.
” Hurry up “
One thing is sure, “time is short” and “we must be creative”, warn the two signatories of this forum on the eve of a meeting of EU finance ministers who want to discuss the financial means to fight against pandemic during a videoconference.
French National Assembly President Richard Ferrand and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble plead for “more solidarity and financial integration” in Europe in the face of the coronavirus crisis, in a column also published in the newspapers on Monday Le Figaro and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
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