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Lagarde, Le Maire, Lindner in Brussels
Photo: John Thys / AFP
During the first visit by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) to the Eurogroup at the beginning of last week, things were much more controversial than has been revealed to the outside world.
The German Finance Minister on the one hand and his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire and ECB President Christine Lagarde on the other came into conflict.
According to transcripts, the dispute flared up when Lagarde proposed a permanent multi-billion euro budget for monetary union, a so-called fiscal capacity.
It is intended to help stabilize the economy in the event of economic shocks.
Le Maire agreed, stating that "the doors should remain open to all funding opportunities."
The Member States have varying degrees of leeway in their respective budgets in order to react to economic shocks.
Lindner received support from his Finnish and Luxembourg counterparts. Lagarde and Le Maire joined the representatives of Portugal, Italy and Spain. The dispute revealed the traditional North-South divide in the eurozone. Lindner also called for the individual member states to receive quantified, tailor-made guidelines from the EU Commission and the partner states on how to put their budgets in order.
Recommendations as part of the Stability and Growth Pact are currently not being made because the agreement has been suspended due to the corona pandemic.
Lindner also spoke out in favor of maintaining the possibility of sanctions that are due if a country accumulates excessive debt.
Lindner's appearance proves that he wants to take a tougher course in Europe than his predecessor, the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD).
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