The European Union is heading for a new financial crisis. This concern was expressed by the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, Friedrich Merz, to Politico.
Merz explained this statement by saying that European governments have taken on too much debt. In his words, "we cannot be so careless with our public finances", and this applies to both Germany and "the others", as Merz did not specify who the "others" are, but France, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Spain and Portugal have debt that is greater than the size of their annual economic output.
The next financial crisis is definitely coming, he said, specifying that it will be a sovereign debt crisis. "We don't know when it will come. We don't know where it will come from, but it will come".
Regarding Germany's finances and Chancellor Olaf Scholz's words that the new government would introduce additional exemptions to loosen the so-called debt brake, Friedrich Merz ruled out reform of the debt brake, but pointed out that structural reforms, including in the area of refugee costs and unemployment benefits, would have to be considered as a priority.
He specified that the order of questions should be clear, and the first question is what freedom of action Germany has in terms of spending. "The key answer to everything is economic growth. And I subordinate everything to that first. And then we can talk about many other topics," said the leader of the Christian Democratic Union. The party "has already prepared for several scenarios," he explained.
Regardless of the composition of the next government, Merz ruled out a second term for Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is the Greens' leading candidate and is working to link economy and climate policy. "Not only will Robert Habeck's economic policy not be continued, the structure of this ministry with economy and climate under one roof will also be terminated." "This structure has been a flawed structure from the start," Friedrich Merz said.
Regarding Germany's migration problems, Friedrich Merz stressed that the number of people coming to his country must be reduced "and quickly."
Merz explained that he would detain asylum seekers who had been classified as potentially dangerous by the country's authorities, resume deportations to countries with which Germany currently does not cooperate because they are run by extremists such as the Taliban in Afghanistan, and meet with other governments to conclude migration agreements, following the example of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.