The eurozone takes a big step forward towards fiscal union

The European Union’s coronavirus recovery plan and its decision to issue joint debt will change the bloc forever.

Ursula Von Der Leyen and Charles Michel © STEPHANIE LECOCQ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Charles Michel: the eurozone is at last getting its fiscal act together
(Image credit: © AFP via Getty Images)

The European Union’s recovery plan will “change the bloc forever”, says Bernd Riegert for Deutsche Welle. Just months ago, talk of joint debt issuance was “unthinkable”, yet this week national leaders agreed to just that as part of a historic €750bn recovery fund.

The plan will see the European Commission borrow on international markets and distribute the funds to the states hardest hit by the pandemic, with €390bn in grants and €360bn in loans. Italy is in line for about €209bn of aid, including €82bn of grants. Spain, Greece and Portugal are also likely to receive substantial help. The Dutch government won an “emergency brake” to ensure that the funds are tied to economic reforms.

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Markets editor

Alex is an investment writer who has been contributing to MoneyWeek since 2015. He has been the magazine’s markets editor since 2019. 

Alex has a passion for demystifying the often arcane world of finance for a general readership. While financial media tends to focus compulsively on the latest trend, the best opportunities can lie forgotten elsewhere. 

He is especially interested in European equities – where his fluent French helps him to cover the continent’s largest bourse – and emerging markets, where his experience living in Beijing, and conversational Chinese, prove useful. 

Hailing from Leeds, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of Oxford. He also holds a Master of Public Health from the University of Manchester.