The pandemic does for Europe what the financial crisis couldn't
Has the coronavirus pandemic achieved for Europe what the global financial crisis couldn’t?
In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the European Union’s 27 member states finally agreed, after nearly five days of acrimonious negotiations, a €750 billion ($1.2 trillion) stimulus plan in response to the pandemic.
French President Emmanuel Macron rightly hailed it as an historic day for Europe. For the first time in more than 60 years, the European Union will be able to run deficits to respond to economic shocks, fund that spending with debt backed by all the member states, and transfer the collective funds to the states that need it most.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macon. Leaders of the 27 members of the European Union agreed on a stimulus package in response to the coronavirus pandemic after nearly five days of acrimonious negotiations.Credit:Reuters pool
It’s not quite a "Hamilton moment" for the eurozone – it doesn’t quite produce a "United States of Europe" – but it is an extremely significant, albeit small, step towards a more integrated Europe; one with significant political, economic and financial market implications.
The vision of a united Europe that underpins what the federalists within the bloc describe as the "European Project" has always been frustrated by the disparities between the economies and cultures of the members of the EU; most notably and starkly the divisions between the rich northern states like Germany, France and the Netherlands and their poor cousins in the south like Italy, Spain and Greece.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/mark...22-p55ecq.html
BTW this has NOTHING to do with Brexit and the word never needs to be mentioned again.