Two European commissioners, including the French Thierry Breton, plead Monday for a recourse to a European loan to face the crisis of the coronavirus in a platform published in the press, where the German government is criticized for its opposition to the "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 tax and capable of issuing long-term bonds, in a forum published in Germany by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Le Monde 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 certain 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. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on Friday promised a European "Marshall Plan", via the EU budget for the period 2021 to 2027, in order to revive 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.
The President of the French National Assembly Richard Ferrand and his German counterpart Wolfgang Schäuble plead them for “more solidarity and financial integration” in Europe facing the coronavirus crisis, in a forum also published Monday in the daily newspapers Le Figaro and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung .
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