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The former head of state asks the Lithuanian authorities to support the proposal by the Germans and the French to finance the new Recovery Fund with funds borrowed from the European Commission, linking it to the EU’s multi-annual budget.
“The benefits are geopolitical and strategic. The crisis has highlighted the need for further integration. The now proposed direction is deeper fiscal union, fiscal integration. If we do not do that, then the disintegration of the EU will begin,” he said. BNS on Friday at D. Grybauskaitė.
“We see the frustration of southern European countries with the EU’s ability to help in times of crisis, the lessons of the crisis and the past, where a smaller country was left to its own devices,” he added, probably referring to the Greek crisis.
“Either we are moving forward with fiscal integration or we are beginning to disintegrate. We have to take risks and create a strong European future, where we can help each other very seriously, because previous aid schemes were complicated, small and belated,” said D Grybauskaitė.
He said that the mechanism proposed by the German and French leaders would pose less risk to financial discipline than the corona bonds offered by southern Europeans, since the costs would be allocated according to commonly agreed rules under the supervision of the European Commission. and not at the discretion of the Member States.
French leader Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Merkel jointly proposed earlier this week to establish $ 500 billion. a fund to revive the paralyzed economy of the coronavirus pandemic.
Under the plan, the fund will be raised through market loans on behalf of the European Union as a whole, and the money will not have to be returned to Member States. Until now, Germany had long opposed co-financed fund grants.
According to D. Grybauskaitė, the change in position in Germany was caused by anxiety about the impact of the crisis in Italy and Spain on their economy, which may have been influenced by the fact that Merkel is already preparing to end her political career.
“One or the other proposal was inevitable and measures were needed to save the European economic situation after the pandemic, as several southern European countries were affected, affecting the economic situation in Germany, France and the entire euro area”, D. Grybauskaitė said.
“Many circumstances have led Germany to decide to take most of the debt on its shoulders, to pay financially in the process of fiscal integration. If this had not happened, serious instruments would not have emerged.” Germany is taking a European approach, bearing a large part of the financial burden of pan-European exit from the pandemic crisis, “he said.
According to D. Grybauskaitė, Lithuania should support the initiative, because in the geopolitical sense, deeper integration is vital for Lithuania, although in specific negotiations it will have to defend its interests and fight for money.
“It is possible to criticize, but this is the future of Europe, because without integration it will fall apart. Lithuania’s geopolitical interest is a stronger and more integrated Europe.” It is better to be at the forefront so that we can influence and protect our interests than to wait “, said.
Until now, the Netherlands, Austria, Denmark and Sweden have been the main opponents of initiatives to support southern Europeans with borrowed funds. So far they say they would only support loans, not non-repayable grants, and they call on southern Europeans to ensure that public finances are managed more responsibly.
The European Commission promises to publish the draft Recovery Fund next week along with the updated EU budget for 2021-2027.
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