Centre news
22.03.2021

Handelsblatt - Voting in the Bundestag on the Reconstruction Fund: unconstitutional or economic opportunity?

Expert consultation on the Recovery Fund in the Budget Committee of the German Bundestag with Lucas Guttenberg.

In an expert hearing in the Budget Committee of the Bundestag on Monday 22 March 2021, the recovery fund was being discussed. Lucas Guttenberg and Thu Nguyen from the Jacques Delors Centre were also present. While some critics consider the EU recovery fund to be unconstitutional, the majority of experts invited by the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag consider the fund to be economically necessary and also constitutional. "In view of the enormous economic distortions caused by the pandemic, this is a sensible and necessary step," writes Lucas Guttenberg in his statement. He counters the critics by saying that "the present decision on own resources does not open any loopholes for an extension or continuation of the recovery instrument" and that "the financial risk for individual member states is clearly limited by the planned repayment via the EU budget".

 

Find full article here (in German)

 

Image: CC Massimo Virgilio, Source: Unsplash