Wolfgang Schäuble said the only way to achieve the economic growth that was needed in the region was to continue to rein in budget deficits and pay down debt, praising the tough new Spanish budget – which contains €27 billion in new taxes and spending cuts – as an example.
“The first precondition in order to have sustainable growth everywhere in Europe is fiscal consolidation”, Mr Schäuble said at a press conference with his Spanish counterpart, Luis de Guindos. “If now we talk about growth, it shouldn’t be understood as a change of direction. That would be a mistake.”
Mr Schäuble’s remarks, following similar comments from Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, come despite the recent political upheaval in France, Greece and the Netherlands, where strong polling from eurosceptic populists has forced political leaders to confront growing voter anger towards austerity measures.
The push for new growth policies – prompted in part by expectations of a victory in Sunday’s French presidential election by socialist François Hollande, who has made such policies a cornerstone of his campaign – has prompted EU officials to dust off similar proposals that have been stymied in the past.
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