This coronavirus was very harsh for the European Union, and the assumed integration of member states was the first victim of Covid-19, as countries stockpiled their medical equipment and banned exports to each other, and when borrowing costs in Italy rose, said Christine Lagarde, who heads Currently the European Central Bank, this is not its problem.
After a lot of soul-searching, and the new Commission Chairperson, Ursula von der Lin, apologize to Italy, here is Brussels trying to repair the damage, but in a way that reveals new cracks and perhaps deeper.
For weeks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has clearly expressed her firm rejection of the proposal calling for the eurozone to issue joint bonds called "Coronabonds", to help Italy, Spain and others avoid the sovereign debt crisis. She rejected ideas about sharing the union and European governments responsible for government debt, but now It appears that it has surrendered by supporting a 500 billion euro fund for this purpose, and it is now awaiting approval from EU member governments.
Not a good actor
Merkel realizes, of course, that Austria, Finland and other countries will protest, and while she is sincere in her ambition to protect the European project, she is not a "philanthropist", nor is she ready to put a lot of German money in danger, and wisely you know that the proposal will be modified in the next few months if it is done. Agree at any time.
Merkel also manages an internal problem, as the country's Constitutional Court created a major problem in the way to manage crises in Europe, when she ruled that the European Central Bank may have violated the German constitution by helping troubled Eurozone economies purchase their debt, and in fact German judges warned that they could end Therefore, including future efforts to save Italy from the debt crisis.
Sovereignty
The reason for this devastating devastation is that it relates to sovereignty, and it is true that the European Central Bank did not respond to the German court, but the German Central Bank did, and if the European Central Bank acted outside its powers, which the court says it did, judges can prevent Germany from participating in the efforts Collectively to buy more government bonds, the European Central Bank has already refused and may be right, but Lagarde also knows that if Germany does not participate in attempts to reform unsustainable public debt to Italy, other countries will follow, and the European Central Bank is no longer the fixer of the gaps in the eurozone .
The Constitutional Court has caused great embarrassment to the German Chancellor, but it is impossible to fight a battle with her; Because this court is one of the best reputable institutions in Germany, and the German Central Bank stands with the judges as well, and the bank has been arguing for years that it exceeded its mark when its director Mario Draghi pledged in 2012 to do “everything necessary” to save the eurozone.
The court is also attracting strong support from the financial hawks in the Merkel-led Christian Democratic Union, and they see in the crisis "Covid-19" a huge spiral of debt in southern Europe, threatening to drag the countries of the North.
High risk
The stakes are very high, as a recent poll in Italy showed that two-thirds now view their membership in the European Union as a “negative thing”, and the Prime Minister of Spain said that the choice facing the European Union is a stark choice, “Either we rise to this challenge Or we will fail as a union. ”Even Ursula von der Linen was talking about these conditions, and she finally said," We took a look at the abyss. "
Now, as in the past, Merkel has a duty to rescue the European Union from this abyss, and she may succeed in obtaining funding for her plan worth 500 billion euros, but if it fails, it is not clear that anyone else has a "B" plan.
Frederick Erickson: writer and political analyst
- Although she is sincere in her ambition to protect the European project, Angela Merkel is not a "philanthropist", nor is she ready to put a lot of German money in danger.
For several weeks, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has clearly expressed her firm rejection of the proposal calling for the eurozone to issue joint bonds called "Coronabonds", to help Italy, Spain and others avoid the sovereign debt crisis.