Lindner at EU meetings: The friendly falcon in Brussels

When Christian Lindner appeared in front of the international media for the second time in Brussels on Tuesday, he was noticeably less nervous than the day before, when he made his very first appearance.

As on Monday, his English is decent, and above all the FDP politician, after attending a meeting of EU finance ministers for the first time, is also showing the quick-wittedness in the foreign language that is known from him at home.

When asked by an American journalist whether he had confirmed his colleagues' fears of being a "scary hawk" during the meeting, Lindner replies: "Oh no.

I am a friendly hawk."

Werner Mussler

Business correspondent in Brussels.

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Friendly in form – and in substance?

It was clear on Monday and Tuesday that Lindner intended not to let his cards be looked at in the forthcoming dispute over the reform of the EU fiscal rules.

On the one hand, he emphasized the close alliance with the French EU Council Presidency and his counterpart Bruno Le Maire, who was very willing to reform.

Lindner said several times that he and the Frenchman are "realistic politicians".

On the other hand, this should obviously mean that the budget rules could be "sensibly further developed" with the federal government, but that the substance of the pact should not be changed.

"Part of the solution, not part of the problem"

Lindner tried to meet the expectations placed on him both at home and abroad. Germany wants to be "part of the solution, not part of the problem," he said to the EU partners. But why no substantial change in the pact? It is still considered sacrosanct in Germany, although it has largely lost its substance. The rules of the pact are "well known among the citizens and very reliable," said Lindner. "Realists focus on the achievable."

That sounded like the language of the coalition agreement, which Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also issued on Monday in Madrid: The pact does not have to be reformed because the previous set of rules is flexible enough. However, what the minister added amounts to a greater willingness to compromise. He ruled out a "change in the EU treaties," said Lindner. What sounds like a "red line" is actually a big concession, because changing the rules in the treaties is considered impossible in Brussels anyway - and nobody is seriously demanding it.

Rather, Lindner's statement gives the impression that he is open to all changes to the rules as long as they do not require treaty changes, such as the abolition of the Maastricht debt limit of 3 and 60 percent of economic output.

Even advocates of reform do not consider such a treaty change to be necessary, since these limit values ​​have already been repeatedly violated in the past.

Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni wants to present a reform proposal by the summer that does not require any treaty changes.

This must allow investments and must not stifle growth, said the Italian.

"Growth-friendly" deleveraging

That sounded very similar with Lindner. He and Le Maire "share the view that we need to fund growth and transformation," said the minister. After the meeting on Tuesday, the Frenchman gave the impression that the EU was already close to an agreement on the issue. Le Maire said that none of his colleagues wanted to continue the "old debates"; "We all want to create a new balance, we all want more investment and healthy public finances."

Like Gentiloni recently in the FAZ, Le Maire also emphasized that nobody denies that the high national debt – in his home country it is currently around 120 percent of economic output – must be reduced.

But the “real question” is when and how quickly this can happen.

"No one is demanding anymore that we have to return to the Maastricht debt reference value of 60 percent of economic output as quickly as possible." It is crucial to make the debt reduction "growth-friendly".

Gentiloni again suggested that each highly indebted country should have its own tailor-made guidelines.

"The further we get, the better"

Le Maire wants to push the discussion as far as possible during the French presidency.

"The further we get, the better." Of course, the EU Commission does not intend to submit a proposal for the reform of the previous set of rules, which consists of several regulations, until the middle of the year.

Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the economy, said on Tuesday that his agency is adamant that new rules should come into force at the beginning of next year.

The Commission does not want to keep those that have been suspended until the end of 2022 any longer.

However, the Latvian indicated that the Commission could propose interim solutions that – as has been the case several times before – allow the rules to be “flexible” if the reform of the pact is not decided by the end of the year.