The first tear materialized with Italy, to which the door has been slammed in the face by Germany and other northern states following the proposal to adopt Eurobonds, that is, common debt instruments.
The differences, however, continued to emerge when (according to reports from numerous press sources) the Dutch finance minister asked the EU to start an investigation on countries that now say they do not have sufficient budget margins to deal with coronavirus, but have not saved when they could. The reference to Italy and also to Spain it became clear and the statements obviously raised a fuss at European level.
Let’s clarify: what happened in the Eurogroup
Wopke Hoekstra, the finance minister of the Netherlands, has issued a real warning to some countries in the European Union.
Without naming names, several international press sources reported, the man asked loudly to the EU Commission to start a real investigation aimed at understanding why some States who now complain that they have no budgetary margins, have not spared even during the past seven years of growth.
A reference that has not gone unnoticed to countries such as Italy and Spain, among the most exposed.
International reactions: EU at risk?
The reactions and criticisms of the Dutchman’s proposal were not long in coming. The Portuguese Prime Minister, Antonio Costa, defined these statements irresponsible, mean and repugnant.
“The virus unfortunately affects us all equally. And if we do not respect each other, and we do not understand that in the face of a common challenge we must be capable of a common response, nothing has been understood about the European Union. If every country thinks to solve the virus problem by leaving it to another country, it is very wrong ”
Costa recalled how the first Portuguese infected people contracted coronavirus in other states but how the latter cannot be blamed.
“If every country thinks to solve the virus problem by leaving it to another country, it is very wrong”,
thundered.
There was no shortage of i Spain comments, who entrusted his statements to Foreign Minister Arancha González, who urged us to avoid unnecessary discussions in a complicated moment like the present one.
Disdain also from Italy, one of the countries most affected by the coronavirus and, perhaps, also by the words of the Dutch minister.
A novelty yesterday, which is truly repugnant! The Dutch finance minister, that country leader of the NO to EU solidarity, has proposed A SURVEY ON THE SOUTHERN COUNTRIES, which would not have spared when they could !! not to believe but true, EU disappears! !
– Franco Frattini (@FrancoFrattini) March 28, 2020
As was obvious, the request for initiate investigations within the EU itself it has inevitably sparked a new wave of controversy over the internal solidarity of the blockade and its stability.
