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Mario Draghi is supposed to lead Italy out of the government chaos.

The former head of the European Central Bank (ECB) is the preferred candidate of President Sergio Mattarella, who absolutely wants to avoid an early election in the midst of the corona crisis.

If the plan works, Draghi, at the head of a technocratic government, could once again not only save Italy, but also shape the entire European Union in his favor.

There is also a lot at stake for Germany if the 73-year-old banker returns to the big stage in his new role as Italy's Prime Minister.

The former head of the ECB enjoys enormous popularity in his home country.

His compatriots have not forgotten that “Super-Draghi” saved Italy from the crash in 2012, at the height of the European debt crisis, with his legendary challenge to the financial markets to defend the euro at all costs.

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But his motto “What ever it takes” led the ECB down the path of an increasingly loose monetary policy, which also has serious negative consequences.

Because the reform zeal in heavily indebted countries - especially in Italy - flagged.

And in creditor countries like Germany, savers pay a high price for an ongoing zero interest rate policy.

In times of the pandemic, the EU is back in crisis mode.

This time, however, the focus is not only on monetary policy, but also for the first time taking on joint debts on a large scale.

The heads of government have thus opened a new chapter.

And Draghi, as Italy's Prime Minister, would once again be right there where the most important decisions for the future of Europe are being made.

Because in the next few months it will not only be about the distribution of the funds from the new EU reconstruction fund in his country.

The question of whether the 750 billion euros will be enough to cope with this severe economic crisis is already in the room.

And many people have long been calling for the new money pot to be used not just once but as a permanent transfer system.

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In addition, the EU will soon have to decide whether and how much the rules of the European Stability Pact should be softened.

Especially since the debt level of the member states after the corona crisis will be over 100 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and thus well above the previously permitted maximum of 60 percent.

An increase from 130 percent to over 150 percent is expected for Italy.

The fact that Federal Finance Minister and SPD candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz as well as the local Green leadership warn that one should not think about saving too quickly after the corona crisis in Europe is attentively registered in Italy as well as in other highly indebted countries.

After all, Germany was decried as the great austerity dictator during the debt crisis in southern Europe.

If coalition negotiations are held in this country after the federal elections in September, European policy will definitely become one of the very hot topics.

If the position of the German federal government changes, a further easing of the European debt rules can be expected.

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The fact that Draghi has excellent connections to all of the capitals and to the EU Commission and to ECB President Christine Lagarde is therefore a valuable asset, especially in these times of crisis.

And even the critics of his monetary policy attest to the Italian that he is an excellent economist, who has always criticized Italy's structural weaknesses, including as ECB president.

Draghi had already shown his economically liberal conviction in the 1990s when he was General Director of the Italian Ministry of Finance.

At that time, he was in charge of the privatization of a number of state-owned corporations and thus achieved that his country was able to convert to the euro in 1999.

As head of an expert government, Draghi himself could now initiate the economic reforms that he had demanded in vain from the respective governments in Rome over the past two decades - first as president of the Italian central bank and later as head of the ECB.

Because both the raising of the retirement age that he called for and the removal of obstacles to growth that he repeatedly called for are just as relevant today as they were then.

However, the corona crisis has set the country back significantly.

In 2020 Italy's economy shrank by almost nine percent and because the virus continues to rage, the prospects for the near future are bleak.

To get this misery under control, Draghi would have to put together a very large reform package - and then implement it.