The political crisis in Italy is not on the agenda for the European Parliament’s plenary, but several political leaders expressed concern on Tuesday 29 May about the consequences of this new crisis for the European Union. Some call for caution in a volatile situation, while others stress the urgent need to respond to the message of the Italian elections by pursuing integration of the eurozone.
Italy is the main subject of our concerns this week, admitted Germany’s Udo Bullmann, head of the Social Democratic group, saying that the situation was very serious. Asked about the danger of Italy leaving the eurozone, he said those that had the most to lose were not the rich, who have time to put their savings in Switzerland, but ordinary citizens and small businesses.
Calling on everyone to keep their ‘sang-froid,’ Philippe Lamberts (Greens/EFA, Belgium) said that refusing to appoint a eurosceptic to the post of finance minister and replacing him with an IMF expert was handing the Five Star Movement and Lega populists a gift. He feared that the remedy would end up worse than the disease.
The head of the GUE/NGL group, Germany’s Gabriele Zimmer, said without lecturing, it had to be clearly said what the possible consequences were of any decisions about the euro. Her compatriot Manfred Weber, leader of the EPP group, simply expressed confidence in Italy, an EU founder nation with its pro-European tradition. I am sure this will remain the case in the future, he said.
Strengthening the eurozone. What’s happening in Italy is a further demonstration or the urgent need to reform the EU and the eurozone, said Nathalie Loiseau, French European minister who happened to be in Strasbourg. She said the eurozone needed to be further integrated by completing Banking Union they weren’t just working to reduce risk but also to share risks (see EUROPE 12027).
Guy Verhofstadt (ALDE, Belgium) said the lesson of the Italian crisis was also that governance of the eurozone needs to be reformed. He lamented that each time there’s a political crisis nationally, pressure rises at eurozone level because of instability of the system, adding that they weren’t in a real monetary union and the system had to be changed at European level, making it more coherent with governance and a budget capability so that this union is no longer influenced by national events.
In order to enter a new stage in integration of the eurozone, Verhofstadt said that Germany should make concessions and Europeans should stand side-by-side with Germany in the trade war that is on the cards with America (see related article).
Bullmann hoped Italy would be able at the end of June, at the eurozone summit, to actively participate in the talks about the future of the eurozone. He said that in order to modernise the eurozone, another interlocutor was needed between Paris and Berlin. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)