“If we can’t do this today, I tell you the populists will win,” he added, predicting a wave of Euroskepticism in the countries hit hardest by the pandemic if the EU does not support them. “Today, tomorrow, the day after, in Italy, in Spain, perhaps in France and elsewhere.”
“It’s obvious because people will say, ‘What is this great journey that [the EU] are offering? These people won’t protect you in a crisis, nor in its aftermath, they have no solidarity with you,'” he said.
“‘When immigrants arrive in your country, they tell you to keep them. When you have an epidemic, they tell you to deal with it. Oh, they’re really nice,'” Macron added, paraphrasing populist arguments.
The French leader said there was “no choice” but to set up a fund that “could issue common debt with a common guarantee” to finance member states according to their needs rather than the size of their economies. This is an idea that Germany and the Netherlands have so far rejected.
“There are notions of solidarity at stake,” Macron said. “The economy depends on it.”
But there was no concrete agreement on how an additional rescue fund would be generated. Italy has been arguing in favor of so-called “coronabonds,” which would raise money against shared European debt by creating an attractive asset for investors and would come without strings, but that idea has had pushback from other major economies in the bloc.
Macron also used the interview to cautiously join the clutch of world leaders casting doubt on China’s response to the pandemic, which began in Wuhan in late 2019.
“There are obviously things that have happened that we don’t know. It is up to China to say them,” Macron said. “You cannot compare the situation of France, Germany, Italy with that of China or Russia, it is obvious. And the transparency that there is, the immediacy of information is not the same, the networks are not free in these countries.”
Chinese government spokespeople have consistently denied accusations the government covered up key information or was overly slow in responding to the initial outbreak.
But in a G7 video conference call on Thursday, Macron offered his support for the WHO and “highlighted the central role that it must play” in the coronavirus response, according to a statement from his office.
Source : Nbcnewyork