Focus should be on spending EU750 billion, industrial projects; German economy minister speaks at Aix-en-Provence gathering
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier poured cold water on a French
proposal to give the European Union a lasting tool to raise common debt.
France
intends to push for a permanent mechanism on joint EU debt issuance to
drive investment in innovation that member countries can’t finance on
their own, according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire.
The comments came ahead of a meeting between the
ministers of Europe’s biggest economies on Sunday at an annual
conference in Aix-en-Provence, southern France. Asked about the
initiative, the German official expressed reluctance.
“It will take some years to spend the
750-billion-euro debt we have,” Altmaier told reporters following a
joint panel with Le Maire. “The next steps will come after Bundestag
elections and French presidential elections.”
The
European Union in May 2020 took the unprecedented step of jointly
raising 750 billion euros ($890 billion) for economic recovery from the
coronavirus pandemic. The move allowed some countries to borrow funds at
lower rates than they could have obtained on their own.
Since then, French President Emmanuel Macron,
whose mandate ends in May 2022, has warned that the EU’s recovery could
trail behind the U.S. He’s called for a “more vigorous answer” from
Europe that would include talks on improving the debt mechanism for
“stronger and faster” investment.
The
proposal met opposition from many EU members, including the Netherlands
and Germany, which is heading toward elections in September. To get
last year’s agreement on joint debt, France conceded that it would be
temporary, yet French officials view a lasting mechanism as a step
toward deeper EU integration....
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