Berlin and Paris are discussing reforms which have taken place in the EU since the election of French President Emmanuel Macron in 2017. In November, Macron underscored the necessity of implementing a “profound reform” of the EU, which he said was specifically caused by Brexit and should be for the benefit of citizens of the bloc's member states.
Speaking to the regional public broadcaster RBB on Monday, former German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble called for a full-fledged reform of the EU, which he claimed should have a common budget and finance minister.
Schauble urged the EU member states to agree on uniting revenues and more finance policy competencies before the creation of the post of EU finance minister.
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“As long as you don't have this, a finance minister alone doesn't make sense. Because then the position is just symbolic, without any powers”, he pointed out.
Schauble also said that the requirement that all member states need to agree on joint decisions should be rejected, adding that “unanimity means the slowest [member state] can block everything”.
According to him, a joint agreement should be possible to clinch with 55 percent of member states, accounting for at least 65 percent of the total EU population.
Schauble argued that the proposed reforms would be approved by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives from the CDU/CSU…
