Twist: Ireland beats Spain and the popular candidate Paschal Donohoe is the new president of the Eurogroup. His candidacy, one of the three running for the replacement of the outgoing president Mario Centeno (Socialist group, Portugal), in the end got the better of the surprise Spanish competitor Nadia Calviño. The 19 finance ministers of the Eurozone therefore decided, contrary to the forecasts that gave Calviño (also a socialist) the favourite.
For Italy as well as for the other countries of the western Mediterranean area, this is not good news. Because Donohoe, contrary to Calviño - supported by Spain, France, Germany and Italy - is supported by the so-called "frugal" countries - Austria, Holland, and the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark, that is precisely those who strongly oppose the Recovery Fund, wanted by Angela Merkel and by Emmanuel Macron, indispensable for countries like Italy.
Merkel recently confirmed, appearing in Parliament to present her program as president of the EU Council for the semester. And you also confirmed your intention to launch it in July. But now he will find a new obstacle in her path: the new president of the Eurogroup will not be her ally and will strengthen the position of the frugal, in fact.
Donohoe was Minister of Transport in Dublin and Commissioner, on the same issues, in Brussels. He has been Finance Minister since 2017, and was confirmed in the post last month, after the birth of the first Grand Coalition government in Ireland, underlining the respect he has managed to win even in the opposition forces. His job as Eurogroup president is above all a mediation job and comes at a crucial moment in European history. Next week, on July 17, the Council of Heads of Government is convened precisely to evaluate how to continue along the path of the Recovery Fund.
"As president - declared the new president - I will try to build bridges between all the countries of the euro area, and to actively engage with all member countries to ensure a consensus-based approach to the recovery of our economies and our societies".
