Paris (AFP)
Europe could "die for lack of solidarity" in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, alarmed former Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Thursday.
"I share the words (spoken by) Bruno Le Maire yesterday, speaking of shame for the finance ministers. I add that this crisis Europe can die, for lack of solidarity", was indignant at Europe 1 the second head of government (2014-2016) of François Hollande's five-year term.
On Wednesday, the meeting of EU finance ministers to find a common economic response to the coronavirus ended in failure. The countries most affected by the virus, in particular Italy but also Spain or France, are calling for a pooling of debts in the form of eurobonds (also called "corona-bonds"). A red line for Berlin and The Hague, which refuse to engage with highly indebted states in the south.
"I wonder what a number of ministers want. What does the Netherlands want? A crisis? The end of the euro zone?" Asked the current Barcelona city councilor, noting that in Spain , "the pro-European feeling" had always been "very powerful", but that today "people and opinions are turning away from the European Union".
For Manuel Valls, it is essential to find an agreement "to pool debts, but above all to come to unconditional support for economies that can collapse" otherwise "we are playing (rait) the future of the Union European ".
"We are everywhere experiencing deep crises of confidence in the institutions (...). If the peoples feel that they have been (...) abandoned in the face of the unprecedented economic crisis that we will be experiencing, I you say with great gravity, everything can collapse. And everything will collapse, "he said.
Mario Centeno, the president of the Eurogroup, the body that unites the finance ministers of the euro zone, convened a new meeting by videoconference Thursday from 5:00 p.m. (3:00 p.m. GMT) to continue work towards an agreement .
© 2020 AFP