(Finance) – “We think we will be able to manage our plans within the financial framework we have at our disposal”. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this today in Berlin, thus confirming that his government intends to restore the constitutional brake on debt starting from 2023. The brake had been suspended in recent years to respond to the Covid crisis. Scholz simultaneously announced multiple measures that will help citizens deal with the energy crisis and its consequences.
“The German government has a common position on the European Stability and Growth Pact. We have presented a document to the EU, that the Minister of Finance has recently explained. The message is that, within the pact that we do not want to change in principle, we want to have the possibility of using in the future the flexibility we have had up to now in dealing with the crisis “.
Regarding the “momentum of the Next Generation Eu”, for Scholz the fundamental thing is that “since we have started this Recovery program” we must understand how to organize the return of credits taken by the EU. “Sometimes in the debate, and I think sometimes with false hopes, we focus on opening credits, but for me the question ‘how to deal with the credits’ has always been important.
Scholz also made it known of support the construction of a gas pipeline which starts from Portugal and Spain, crosses France and reaches Central Europe. The pipeline would serve “in a massive way to alleviate the supply situation”. This is why Scholz “pushed hard to tackle such a project” with his colleagues in Spain, Portugal and France, as well as with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. As a note Dpa, the MidCat project for the construction of a gas pipeline from Spain to the south of France it was stopped a few years ago, because it was considered uneconomical, partly also because of the cheaper natural gas from Russia. With the war in Ukraine, this scenario has clearly changed.
As for the continuation of the war in Ukraine requires that “we make far-reaching decisions to support its struggle for independence”, he said reaffirming military and financial support for Kiev. The German government, “breaking with its previous policy, is delivering many weapons, long range and very powerful, and will continue to do so in the near future, “said the German Chancellor.
“We support Ukraine financially – he continues – and we are ready for the fact that the impact of this war affects the world
whole, and Europe and our country. “When asked whether he would welcome a commitment by the former chancellor – heavily criticized for his excessive proximity to Vladimir Putin – as mediator with Russia, Scholz then answered ambiguously.
“I don’t know,” he said, adding that it would be “a laudable commitment” if the former chancellor were to talk to Moscow about the turbine turbine affair. Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline which Russia indicates as the reason for the gas flow restrictions.