The president of France Emmanuel Macron and the Kyriakos Mitsotakis they called on Saturday to extend the repayment period of the Recovery Fund after the pandemic, as well as the issuance of new Eurobonds to finance European Union investments, Politico notes.
“We borrowed during Covid. Today some people tell us that we have to pay back quickly. This is absurd,” Macron said at the Maximos Palace. “Let’s extend this debt or proceed with a new bond issue,” he added.
The French president also reiterated his proposal for common European borrowing to finance investments in strategic sectors such as defence, space and artificial intelligence.
“What is the point of repaying the Recovery Fund now, reducing the fiscal space available for the next six years, when there is no reason and when there is strong demand for European bonds that will strengthen the European Union?” Mr. Mitsotakis said for his part.
According to Politico, the two leaders, whose countries are among the most indebted in the EU, are expected to defend their position in the difficult negotiations on the multi-year European budget 2028-2034, amounting to 1.8 trillion. euro.
The idea of refinancing the debt of the Recovery Fund was also discussed by other European leaders on Friday, during an informal session in Cyprus, as the E.U. is to start from 2028 the repayment of around 25 billion euros per year from the common debt issued to deal with the effects of Covid.
However, the so-called “frugal” countries are reacting strongly. “This is not going to happen,” a European diplomat said on the sidelines of the meeting. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also spoke out against increasing European debt.
“Today many will say ‘nothing'”, Macron noted. “But I’m sure that in the end we will succeed, because Europe wants to stay competitive.”
