The Spirit of the EU Founding Fathers: Why Europe’s Economic Recovery Plan is More than Money
“This is the real start of the 21st century” said Charles Michel, President of the European Council at the 20th Brussels Economic Forum. “We believe in our future. We are sending one key message: Europe is united and confident.”
Proposing and leading EU governments to agree on a post-coronavirus economic recovery plan in July was “not easy,” the Belgian EU politician admitted. “But it was a success.” Michel joked that he had threatened to ask the Belgian Prime Minister to close the airport until a deal was struck “I was determined to make a deal happen!”
The deal finally agreed, after four days and nights of talks, earmarks €750 billion in grants and loans, to help the 27 countries of the EU deal with the impact of the pandemic.
This financial package is “far superior to the US or China’s” response, the former Prime Minister of Belgium said. Europe had learned from mistakes made a decade earlier, he said. “Compared to the financial crisis, Europe took action decisively and with speed,” he said.
The swift, clear response made in July was in the spirit of the EU’s founding fathers, said Michel. In addition, he welcomed the fact that spending the money is “for the first time” linked to rule of law and climate ambitions.
But despite the joy of reaching a deal in July, Michel cautioned that “now comes the hard work”.
“This recovery plan is not just a simple recovery plan. It’s a transformation plan that will lead us to the Europe of the future,” he said.
That means, as other BEF speakers said, building on the EU green deal and digital agenda, Michel explained. It means modernising EU fiscal rules, making societies stronger, and unlocking the promise of new technologies.
“There is no magic money as we implement the recovery plan,” warned the president. “Every euro must be used thoughtfully.”
But he remained cheerful about the prospects for the coming decades, as the EU moves on from the coronavirus pandemic with a new plan.
“Confidence is key to democratic legitimacy,” concluded the Council president faced with steering Europe through an unprecedented health crisis. “European strategic autonomy is in all our common interests.”