EU Finance Chiefs Know They’re in Trouble and Are Fighting Over What to Do
The economic challenges that are dragging down the European economy have been building up for years but officials have been slow to catch on.
European finance ministers attend the Economic and Financial Affairs Council meeting in Luxembourg in June.
Photographer: Simon Wohlfahrt/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner was listening to a presentation at the International Monetary Fund meeting in April when he finally realized just how bad things have gotten for Germany.
In the middle of a presentation on economic decline, Francois Villeroy de Galhau nudged him to take a closer look at the photo chosen to illustrate the main point: It was Friedrichstrasse in downtown Berlin.