Germany is " ready " to " play on European solidarity ", but still refuses any pooling of debts to deal with the coronavirus pandemic in the euro zone, said German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Tuesday. " We are ready for solidarity, but well thought out solidarity ," said the minister, also vice-chancellor, from the ranks of the SPD (Social Democratic Party).
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Olaf Scholz called in particular to mobilize the budgetary resources of the European Union in priority towards the countries " with the most important needs ", whether from a health or economic point of view. But the minister reiterated Berlin's refusal to set up " corona bonds ", loans common to the 19 countries of the euro zone and requested by several European countries, including France, Spain and Italy, to make facing the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel had already expressed her opposition to "corona bonds" at a European summit, favoring already existing European budgetary means, notably the European stability mechanism, in the face of the crisis.
The day before, in a letter sent Wednesday to the President of the European Council Charles Michel, the leaders of nine European countries, including French President Emmanuel Macron and the Head of the Italian Government Giuseppe Conte, had called for the creation of these " corona bonds ", in order to have a large fund in the face of the crisis.
Several Italian politicians, the presidents of the regions of Liguria and Emilia Romagna and several mayors, reiterated this call on Tuesday in a full page of the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung where they ask their " dear German friends " to change their mind on that question. If " the European Union does not prove that it exists now, it will disappear ", write the signatories of this forum, calling on Germany to " take the right decision ".
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Pooling the debts of European countries is frequently requested by indebted countries in southern Europe, such as Italy, but it is rejected by the northern countries, which are more virtuous on a budgetary level. This opposition to the idea of pooling debts culminated in 2015 during the stormy negotiations for a third bailout of Greece then in full economic slump.
