German Chancellor Olaf Solz has given no indication to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez that his three-party government is ready to support the easing of EU fiscal rules, although the two leaders agreed today to work closely to implement European policies.
Sanchez had high expectations of Soltz’s visit to Madrid today, with some sources saying he saw their closer “ideological approach” as an opportunity to strengthen relations between Spain and Germany.
“The chancellor and I have noted that we are entering a new phase of our co-operation at European level,” the Spanish prime minister told reporters, referring to the two governments’ “common vision” for social and economic progress.
“We agree (in the view) that fiscal rules are too complex and difficult to comply with,” he said, especially in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. But he added that the two countries do not agree on how these rules of the European Stability and Growth Pact could be changed.
Madrid hopes to persuade Berlin to support a series of looser fiscal rules, as France and Italy also want, in order to set a more realistic debt reduction target. But Soltz said that although “Germany and Spain are close friends” and have a good relationship, it is still too early to review fiscal rules. “The Stability and Growth Pact is the framework within which we were able to implement, for example, the post-pandemic recovery plan,” Soltz told a news conference in Madrid with Sanchez.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
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Source From: Capital
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