The Aid Programmes Are an Extraordinary Achievement of the 27 EU States

The COVID-19 pandemic requires joint action from the EU Member States – for both health protection and to respond to the crisis with appropriate economic policy measures. The “Next Generation EU” recovery fund and the “Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme” (PEPP) of the ECB are at the heart of the joint efforts to stabilise the European economy. At the #ZEWlive event on 10 November 2020, Dr. Sylvie Goulard, deputy governor of the Banque de France, and ZEW expert Professor Friedrich Heinemann discussed whether these programmes can help overcome the crisis. The discussion revealed that while these support programmes are effective in the short term, they are not sufficiently well-targeted to address the long-term causes of weak growth and the lack of resilience. The event was supported by the Brigitte Strube Stiftung.

“Will Europe be able to rebuild its economy after the coronavirus crisis?,” asked the journalist Jessica Sturmberg, who moderated the event. According to Heinemann, Europe is currently facing a double challenge: the task of stabilising the economy in the short term, and the challenge of making long-term economic and financial policy decisions. Europe finds itself in a crisis situation with unforeseeable consequences, said Goulard. “These are emergency measures to secure the functioning of the system,” stressed the deputy governor of the Banque de France. Heinemann confirmed that there are first signs of short-term economic stability in Europe. Both experts agreed that the aid programmes are an extraordinary achievement of the 27 EU Member States.