Almost five hours have passed the members of the Eurogroup meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss four main topics: the budgetary orientation of the euro zone, the international role of the common currency, the future of the integration of European markets and capitals and the legislative framework of the digital euro supported by the European Commission and the European Central Bank.
The Spanish Vice President for Economic Affairs, Nadia Calvino, He was one of the first leaders to attend the meeting shortly before 3:00 p.m. in Brussels while heavy rain fell. It will be she who takes the lead tomorrow during the also first meeting of the ecofin under the Spanish presidency. “It is essential to avoid lurching, opening uncertainties or deteriorating the confidence of the markets and of the international financial institutions that we have worked so hard in these five years,” she commented when asked about the possibility of a change of government on 23-J.
Calviño did not miss the opportunity to positively assess the work of the last five years of the Socialist Executive. “Spain has done its homework,” he assured, “we have met the deficit and debt targets endorsed by the European institutions.” To underscore this idea, he compared the bond debt of Spain with the of Germany: both pay the same.
The ministers of Economy and Finance of the eurozone closed today the stage of budgetary expansion for coping with the pandemic and the war in Ukraine and they open the new fiscal adjustment. The objective is to clean up public accounts. For this they will also tighten the belts of national economies when the time comes. This strategy also permeates the capitals of the common currency: Netherlandsfor example, thinks that it is time to return to “normal positions” after the “widening” of national budgets during the last three years.
Volatile international context
The pandemic of COVID-19 and the energy crisis caused by the war of Ukraine They have been two torpedoes to the waterline of the European economy. Despite this, Nadia Calviño was pleased today by admitting that she “resists better than expected.” The good expectations for 2024 feed the hope of full recovery by 2025, the date that she already predicted christine lagardepresident of the ECBin 2020. This, yes, taking into account that not all of them will return to the path of solid pre-COVID growth. Spain it is far from returning to the old path.
The Commission expects core inflation in the euro zone to rise to 6% until the end of 2023 and remain slightly above 3% for the whole of next year. Added to this is the recommended phasing out of support measures for energy, which currently represents about 1.25% of GDP. This will also suffer some countries more than others, especially the most energy dependent. France has embarked on the construction of nuclear power plants; Germany, to reopen coal mines. Everything is to achieve balance as soon as possible. He Eurogroup He has been concerned about balancing the debts. If achieved, it could improve the compensation of Member States’ contributions to the fiscal impulse in 2024.
On the digital euro, the president of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donohoe, made it clear that “the recommendations for its final application will be made final in the first half of next year.” The ministers are aware of the doubts that its application raises among the population for reasons of security and privacy, but in this regard they assured that “cash will continue to be guaranteed throughout Europe». The idea is that both currencies coexist in the best possible way. the commissioner Paolo Gentinoli made it clear that “it is not the result of a conspiracy”, but a “common work between all the European institutions”.
Faced with the challenges posed by a more interconnected and dependent global economy, the Eurogroup knows that “the largest capital markets in the euro area are small in comparison globally.” Faced with this challenge, the answer is always the same: “we need a united and strong Europe”.
