The first reaction, virulent, came from Rome.

"Faced with the common threats of our time, we cannot divide ourselves according to the room for maneuver of our national budgets," said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi in a thinly veiled criticism of the announcements from Berlin.

"The energy crisis requires a response from Europe that allows (...) to avoid dangerous and unjustified distortions of the internal market", continued Mr. Draghi, calling on Europeans to "show themselves united".

Despite years of budgetary austerity, Italy is weighed down by a public debt representing 150% of its gross domestic product (GDP), against 65% in Germany.

It does not have the same means to help its businesses.

"The Commission will be vigilant as to the impact of this initiative (from Berlin) on the conditions of fair competition" in the EU, declared for his part the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton, questioned by AFP.

He assured that he would look at the German plan "in great detail in the coming days".

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"For several months, I have been encouraging Member States to find all the means at their disposal to support their industries and businesses. But I am very attached to ensuring that this exercise is carried out with great transparency, consultation and total European coherence", he specified.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck denied going it alone.

“Other countries have also put in place packages to ease the burden” on their households and businesses, he told German radio station Deutschlandfunk on Friday, citing Spain and France.

"Mad Race"

The pressure on European leaders is very strong as annual inflation reached a record 10% in September, due to the consequences of the war in Ukraine.

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Soaring energy and food prices are gripping households.

European employers warned on Thursday that high gas and electricity prices were threatening the survival of thousands of businesses in Europe.

Politicians fear yellow vest-type social movements and thousands of job cuts in industry and tend to act in a haphazard fashion, for lack of a satisfactory EU-wide framework.

Luxembourg Energy Minister Claude Turmes called on the Commission on Friday to "put an end to this mad rush of different governments competing with each other at such a difficult time".

“Several big countries have taken national measures, while in meetings they say that we have to work together and find solutions at EU level”, mocks a European diplomat, on condition of anonymity.

For Thierry Breton, "the question that now arises is how to offer Member States which do not have this room for maneuver the possibility of also supporting their businesses and industries, as was the case during the crisis. of Covid".

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In July 2020, the Twenty-Seven had succeeded in agreeing on a historic recovery plan of 750 billion euros financed by common debt.

The question of a second plan will arise in the coming weeks, believes the Bruegel think tank.

The €200 billion package "certainly sends the wrong signal: Germany is using its fiscal power in a way that could harm other European countries," he wrote in a blog post, referring to the " bazooka" from Berlin.

"Economic differences within the EU could increase and European unity in the face of Russia could be compromised", worries the Brussels institute.

© 2022 AFP