Germany Has a Winning Hand Again in Europe
Even Italy is softening its position on coronabonds ahead of the EU leader’s meeting this week. No country has the appetite for a dramatic showdown.
Joint and several?
Photographer: JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFPOn Thursday, the European Union’s leaders will gather to decide on a joint response to the economic crisis caused by Covid-19. The central question will be whether the euro zone is ready to issue some form of mutualized debt to relieve pressure on the bloc’s most fragile member states.
The chances of anything resembling so-called “euro bonds” are extremely slim. Germany and the Netherlands have made it clear they oppose such “joint and several” liabilities, as they fear they’d be on the hook for the costs of the crisis. While France and Spain have made concrete proposals on some type of joint debt, they’re unlikely to push their cases to the extreme. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, regularly offers rousing words about the need for common action, but tends not to follow through.