Emmanuel Macron: “È tempo che l’UE lanci una capacità di debito comune, attraverso gli Eurobond” – Macron sostiene prestiti congiunti, che finanzierebbero investimenti strategici e permetterebbero all’UE di “affrontare l’egemonia del dollaro”
https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2026/02/10/emmanuel-macron-c-est-le-moment-pour-l-union-europeenne-de-lancer-une-capacite-commune-d-endettement-via-des-eurobonds_6666101_3234.html
di goldstarflag
42 commenti
So he wants other EU countries to pay off french debt?
Basically, the entire EU will take on debt to buy German and French military equipment. Sounds great, for France and Germany.
Good idea.
who needs to balance budgets when you can get det indefinitely.
The issue is, that France is in debt spiral.
I would be for this for specific “extra spending”. Not to use it for regular spending.
Yianis Varoufakis joins the call..
and finally when it’s good for France there are no PIGS any more. Interesting change of policy. Maybe no, maybe austerity also for France
Good initiative, but when PIGS were struggling in debt it was rejected.
Instead of fixing their finances they are continuing to hold debt-hostage the future generations
It’s time for even more austerity. We’re reaching levels of economic instability you’ve never heard of.
As a French please no. It’s been 50 years since our last balanced budget. If you don’t let us crumble they will never learn, they will crush your economy the same way they killed french economy.
Joint loans? Ehh easy to suggest when you have one of the largest national debts..
**You campaign for a “powerful Europe”. Do you feel like you are being heard?**
For nine years, I have been advocating for a more sovereign Europe. I think that the conceptual change has taken place, and that we have taken many measures that were unthinkable a few years ago. Thus, we have set up a defense Europe, with common funding and common projects. We won this ideological fight. But, we are not at the right pace and we are not at the right scale.
**That’s to say?**
Today, our Europe faces an immense challenge, in a world in disorder. Climate change is happening faster. The United States, which we thought assured us security forever, casts doubt. Russia, which was supposed to provide low-cost energy forever, has been over for three years. And China, which was an export market for many, has become an increasingly fierce competitor.
In September 2024, the former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi warned, in its report on competitiveness, on the risk of agony of the EU if it did nothing.
**Where are we?**
Since then, the situation has worsened profoundly. Today, China has $1 trillion [840 billion euros] trade surpluses with the rest of the world, a third with the United States, a third with Europe. At the same time, Washington imposed customs duties on us. In fact, we have a double crisis: the Chinese tsunami on the commercial level and the microsecond instability on the American side.
Are we ready to become a power? This question is asked of us on the economic, financial level, on the defense and security level, on the democratic level. It must be time to wake up. In other times, to cite the great authors, we would have said the moment of leaving the state of minority.
Today, we Europeans are all alone. For me, this is the ultimate accomplishment of the European adventure of the last seventy years. We had come together to no longer wage war, we had come together to make a deal, but we had always forbidden ourselves from thinking about power together.
**What do you recommend?**
Simplification –we started, on texts such as the duty of vigilance – and the deepening of the internal market. We must continue, with the 28the diet [which aims to create a European code of business law], the Capital Markets Union, the integration of our electricity networks… The native market of our companies cannot be twenty-seven different markets, but it must be natively 450 million inhabitants.
The second pillar is diversification, the conclusion of new commercial partnerships, as we have just done with India. This strategy offers us a growth driver and also allows us to reduce our dependencies, it is good.
**However, France opposed the trade agreement between the EU and Mercosur. Isn’t that paradoxical?**
The [deal with the] Mercosur is a bad deal. It’s an old agreement, poorly negotiated. Regardless, Mercosur will have neither the dramatic impact on our agriculture that some fear, nor the positive impact on our growth that others imagine.
**Should we have more protectionism?**
We must protect our industry. The Chinese do it, the Americans do it too. Europe is today the most open market in the world. Faced with this, it is not a question of being protectionist, but of being coherent, that is to say of not imposing rules on our producers that we do not impose on non-European importers.
We have started to protect certain sectors, by imposing taxes on over-subsidized Chinese electric vehicles or by introducing safeguard clauses on steel. The car plan, presented a few weeks ago by the Commission, also displays a European preference.
We will not give European preference to cell phones, we no longer produce them in Europe. We must concentrate on certain strategic sectors, such as cleantech, chemicals, steel, automobiles or defense, otherwise the Europeans will be swept away. It’s defensive, but it’s essential, because we are faced with unfair competitors, who no longer respect the rules of the World Trade Organization.
**In 2024, Mario Draghi already spoke of the need for a European preference…**
Yes, just as he insisted on the need to innovate and invest in this objective. But it was a little forgotten along the way. We mainly focused on simplification and diversification, which are more consensual.
**What exactly is investment for?**
Today, we have three battles to fight, in security and defense, in ecological transition technologies, and in artificial intelligence and quantum. In all these areas, we invest much less than China and the United States. If the EU does nothing within three to five years, it will be swept away from these sectors. And this investment, if we want it to preserve the internal market, not to fragment it a little more, we must not send it back to the nations. It must be a joint investment.
**How much are we talking about?**
Mario Draghi estimated the need for public and private investment in green and digital technologies at 800 billion euros per year. If we add defense and security, we arrive at some 1,200 billion euros per year.
**How to finance these investments?**
We must first remobilize our savings. In Europe, we have the largest stock of savings in the world, 30,000 billion euros. But it finances our debt and, for the rest, goes abroad. Every year, 300 billion euros finance American companies.
At the same time, once the European budget is constrained, it is time to launch a common debt capacity for these future expenditures, Eurobonds for the future. We need major European programs to finance the best projects.
Common debt only if there is common binding fiscal oversight re spending, taxation etc.
I.e. we need the EU to become a proper Federation.
The idea that otherwise every nation essentially retains full budget authority while spending the money of other countries taxpayers is frankly offensive.
Neoliberal media be like: France wants other countries to pay their debts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reality: Europe needs to fund large-scale infrastructure, defense and research projects, which no single country, much less a single company, is capable to finance on their own; something that is putting us into a severe disadvantage compared to the USA and China.
It’s very sad many people think that joint debt for joint projects is just some way how one EU country tries to steal from another, which is why it is difficult to push joint initiatives.
I agree. A step towards real federalism.
And France would crater the fucking thing based on their constant elections that somehow make Britain look stable.
Imagine we didnt listen to the redditors and bought some bitcoin or held confiscated coins at amy point over the last 15 years
Regardless of the merits of Eurobonds, I think that everybody needs to accept that as long as major European countries are running large deficits and high debts, shared general debt is dead on arrival. If Macron really wants Eurobonds, he needs to make the rest of Europe believe that France is moving towards fulfilling the Maastricht criteria.
Classic European crab bucket response in this thread. The rest of the democratic world desperately needs you to get your shit together and instead you provide internal mudslinging. Yes, France’s timing on this suggestion is hypocritical. But the suggestion is better late than never. Keep bitching about national grievances and be divided and conquered, or put aside the petty bullshit for a few years to provide a mostly sane pole in the post-US world. Those are your options. So far it’s not looking promising.
He just wants more credit money for the French defense industry, make other European countries pay the debt, then charge those countries for the weapons. He’s beholden to the French defense industry just like an American president. He wants to expand debt to support it just like an American president.
Yes!!!! Lets Hamilton this shit. Federal States of Europe here we come.
Breaking news! Country that would only benefit from Eurobonds sorts supports Eurobonds
Question about Eurobonds from someone with 0 economics knowledge: what happens if Finland for example wakes up tomorrow morning and decides not to pay? Does its share get split up on the rest of the members? Does the ECB pay and charge interest to Finland? Does the whole Eurobond default?
More pensions yey
Yep, it’s harder for a French not to say “debt” than it is for Cartman not to say fuck.
He is right, but it can only happen after France gets it’s finances in order. You can’t have the Dutch and Germans pay for French pensioners, nuclear decommissioning and all the other massive bills hanging over their economy like the sword of Damocles.
To an extent the seal has been broken on that with SAFE, and for specific projects it’s probably something that can reasonably be repeated and would be politically acceptable. As a way for national governments to raise money generally though that seems very unlikely.
Greece be like : Melgibson Jesus..,…
You need to federalize first. Nobody is going to want euro bonds that are just an amalgam of countries that all hate each other.
Yeah so that France can borrow even more and have the rest of Europe split the bill. Lmfao.
I remember when the left parties in Portugal were considered “radical” because of this idea in 2011 when our debt was spiraling.
Country closest to financial collapse wants fiscally responsible countries to agree to higher debts.
Eurobonds would mean lower interest rate for France but way higher for Netherlands
I agree in principle, but shared debt also means shared responsibility.
Countries like France and Italy need to either overhaul their spending policies or they should loose control over them because they have demonstrated over and over again that they cannot control their debt.
Without systems like these in place we all know it will end up with countries like Italy spending money they don’t have on some dumb political project they don’t need – like the Messina bridge – claiming it is “strategic” and having Northern Europe pay for it.
If it was used for innovation, startups, affordable housing… I would be all in for it.
But we all know that it would be used to continue building up debt that the young will need to pay in the future, so that governments such as the French one can continue to pay pensioners unreasonably amount of money in exchange of their votes.
Looooong time French goal.
It was already talked about before even the Euro that Germany will end up paying for French debts 🙂
We’re all waiting for you guys to do something about it
Eurobonds can only be the last and final step after the entire EU has adopted common rules for working life, pensions, retirement age and fiscal policy.
No one will agree to Eurobonds as long as their neighbouring regions have to pay less taxes, are allowed to retire five years earlier and then also receive higher pension payments. How should that be acceptable?
All cars in France are more likely to go up in flames than the population is to accept change.
Two days from now, EU leaders will meet Mario Draghi at Alden Biesel castle to discuss Europe’s future. Draghi wants them to move from Confederation to Federation.
considering french debt and considering france having a public spending of 58.4% of GDP, it makes sense. germany has to pay for it xD
Are France willing to raise their retirement age yet?
I’d veto this unless we’re getting centrally controlled spending as well.
Why the fuck would I pay taxes to cover French pensions
It’s pretty clear to me that rearmament spending and Ukraine help should mainly be financed by EU bounds.