Some northern European countries are reluctant to help their European neighbors hard hit by the coronavirus epidemic. France, and especially Germany, are leading the debates within the euro zone, in an attempt to change the position of the recalcitrant countries.
It's a test week that begins for Europe, which must find the means to help the countries most affected by the crisis.
It has been ten days since the finance ministers of the euro zone seek to agree on a key point: what aid for countries like Italy most affected by the virus. And it has been ten days that a group of northern European countries, including the Netherlands, have been dragging their feet and refusing solidarity with their neighbors. The tensions are very high. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa called the Dutch finance minister "repugnant" and "mean". This is the atmosphere. But the lines are moving because everyone has an interest in avoiding a collapse of European economies.
And things are moving especially on the German side.
This is the new point and it is important. German finance and foreign ministers Olaf Scholtz and Heiko Maas told Echos this morning that they are making progress. First by saying for the first time that the European Stability Mechanism, which is a fund of 410 billion euros, can be used unconditionally to help struggling economies. They specify that in the case of France, that would bring us 54 billion euros, it is considerable. And another step forward, they propose to create a European fund to guarantee loans to SMEs. France and other countries would like to go further with European loans. The Germans don't go that far. But you see, the lines are moving: even the most rigorous in Europe realize the gravity of the crisis. It should be seen as a good sign. A sign that Europe is taking the measure of the enormous challenge that awaits us.