"No solidarity without controls“. The German Chancellor does not mince words, Angela Merkel, who in an interview with Zdf launches a clear message in view of the Eurogroup meeting scheduled for 20 July. “If you have a common currency – continues the chancellor – this means, of course, that in addition to the advantages there are obligations and that the political decisions of each individual member have an effect on the other countries. We must have a Europe more committed to rigor“, and we “must give the European institutions more power to act against those countries that do not respect the rules. A control that is binding and that does not allow for easy violation of the rules we have imposed on ourselves".
Merkel's words suggest that Germany will not accept the launch of the anti-spread shield in the form desired by Italy, Spain and France. The original project envisaged that – after an explicit request and the signing of a memorandum – the European state bailout funds could control spreads by purchasing on the secondary market (and perhaps also on the primary market) government bonds of virtuous countries in matters of public finances. All without any control by the troika (the technicians of the ECB, EU and IMF). On this last point, the Germans seemed to have given in, but now the chancellor is putting everything back into the game.
Furthermore, Merkel's interview serves to soften the hawks of his majority. At least 26 CDU deputies intend to reject aid to Spain during the parliamentary vote on Thursday 20. The measure, as has already happened for the ESM, will pass only thanks to the support of the SPD and the Greens.
The chancellor then acknowledges that "more has been done in the last month than in recent years, but much more needs to be done". Without forgetting that "Germany's forces are not infinite and we as Europe face a global competition that we must win to maintain our well-being. This is what drives me and for this reason, some things must be changed, even harshly, in Europe". Merkel then clarified that the reconstructions that gave her a defeat at the last EU summit are "interpretations that she does not find confirmed by the facts".
