The French President Emmanuel Macron has warned the European Union faces collapse unless Brussels comes to the aid of the economies.
Macron insists Brussels have “no choice” and must set up a rescue fund that enables poorer member states to share their debt with the richer states.
Macron has slammed the EU over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic and said the bloc faces a “moment of truth” to prove and decide whether they are just a single economic market.
The French President told the Financial Times, “If we can’t do this today, I tell you the populists will win today, tomorrow, the day after, in Italy, in Spain, perhaps in France and elsewhere.
“I believe the EU is a political project. If it’s a political project, the human factor is the priority and there are notions of solidarity that come into play… the economy follows on from that, and let’s not forget that economics is a moral science.”
Italy warned on Tuesday that they could leave the EU over Brussels inability to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
The EU economy is on the brink of falling into a recession since they were forced to initiate lockdown measure to control the spread of coronavirus.
Italian MEP Adinolfi said, “The EU response to the coronavirus crisis has been inadequate. It would be better to leave Brussels.
“If this is what the EU is about, perhaps it is better to collect signatures for the referendum to abandon Brussels.”
Von der Leyen gave a grovelling apology to Rome on Thursday, after Italy’s warning.
Macron wants Brussels to “support common debt with a common guarantee,” which is opposed by the Netherlands and Germany.
He added, “You cannot have a single market where some are sacrificed.
“It is no longer possible to have financing that is not mutualised for spending we are undertaking in the battle against Covid-19 and that we will have for the economic recovery.”
The EU Commission have made plane for a “new Marshall Plan” of up to €1trn to finance the coronavirus rebuild.
Von der Leyen said, “We need a Marshall Plan for Europe’s recovery and it needs to be put in place immediately.
“We will use the power of the whole European budget to leverage the huge amount of investment we need to rebuild the single market after Corona.
“We will frontload it so we can power that investment in those crucial first years of recovery.”
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