Monday (May 18th): Merkel and Macron for the save?

Name? Angela Merkel 

Westphalian identity? German

Age? 65

Why is he in the news? Minutes ago she stepped in front of the press in Berlin while Emanuel Macron stepped in front of the press in Paris for a joint online press conference. Both announced a Franco-German proposal to come up with 500 billion Euros for the European Union to answer challenges arising from Covid-19 responses. This goes on top of the already agreed upon 500 billion Euros from two months ago, doubling previous efforts. 

Why do we care? At RAIA Group, we have many European nationalities which engage in heated debates about the correct way to combat challenges, especially those of financial nature. This proposal seems to be a mix from all sides of the ideological spectrum, in a democracy, we would call that a consensus. 

Why should you care? IF you are European you are either receiving this money or giving it. Enough reasons to care? If not, we have 500 billion other reasons. 

Who else cares? The rest of Europe. While it is always nice when the two European powerhouses agree on something, it is easy to forget that there are 25 other countries that need to agree as well. It will not be difficult to convince the receiving countries of this, but the countries that blocked past efforts such as Austria and the Netherlands still have to agree. Indeed, Germany giving is a good signal, but Germany is not all of the EU, it is 27% of it (or 135 billion). 

Any further comments? This idea needs to be ratified by all 27 member states, meaning it needs to pass 27 different national parliaments. We are not saying this is impossible, but we are saying that this is the reason why these types of measures take so long. In a democratic process, decisions can only be taken by consensus.

Joshua Dario Hasenstab

General Coordinator