Embrace the mess

Eurozone reform seems to be closer than ever

Source of the photo: New Europe

The French and German governments will issue their joint position on the Eurozone in June. A highly distinguished group of German and French academics has just published their suggestions on the topic. Bulgaria is about to join the Eurozone’s waiting room – the ERM II – in June. Romania aims to introduce the common currency in 2022. A bunch of Polish academics try to convince their government to opt for a more pro-euro policy. Something is going on with the monetary union, it’s not a question anymore.

However, the need for correcting the structural errors of the common currency area has been on the table for exactly a decade. Yes, indeed! The EU’s financial and economic crisis has started exactly ten years ago. In the first years of the catastrophe, policy-makers and academics were just about to analyze the roots of the crisis, endlessly recalling the fatal implications of the EU’s compromise culture. I wish to have as many euros as many times I’ve heard the Economic and Monetary Union has never met the criteria of an optimum currency area. I wish to have as many euros as many times I’ve heard about the incremental style of European decision-making. But still, this cliché explains the best how things work.

Then, in the early 2010s, there was a surge in reform-proposal to correct the historical insufficiencies of the Eurozone. When things started to work better, and decision-makers felt a bit of release, they stopped. But the recent two years were so hard for European politics, that they seemed to make up their minds.

In a funny way, the painfully long and uncertain German coalition talks have also contributed to the process in a constructive way. In September, the German conservatives insisted on their traditional moderate and cautious approach on creating some sort of common budget to absorb shocks and mutualize debts. By now, they don’t seem to be so determined to refrain from every form of a Eurozone budget. The determination has vanished, just like the SPD’s crystal-clear stance on not joining another coalition with the CDU.

Of course, there are radical changes from the other side as well. Emmanuel Macron has just announced what no one would have expected from a French president to say so. He considers to reduce farm subsidies financed by EU budget and spend the money on innovation and border control. Honestly, I don’t understand why the whole EU didn’t stop for a moment when it hit the news. Knowing the French farmers’ desperate manifestation culture, France may stop for a while if he really starts to implement this idea. But bearing in mind that the EU’s history was built on the compromise of German industry paying the bill of French agriculture, this is already a real revolution.

Of course, there is much to be done. But if we look at the Eastern Member States rushing to join the Eurozone, it’s clear that – using another historical EU cliché – a window of opportunity has been opened. Those that don’t move now, may stay out forever. So, what to say? Thanks for these long months of mess!