“We’re talking trillions for the recovery plan”

When Mário Centeno, the Portuguese Minister of Finance, was selected two years ago to chair the Eurogroup, there was absolutely nothing to hint at the fact that he would be in office during what is the biggest crisis in the history of the European integration. His mission is to achieve consensus among his European peers – even if that means doing so forcibly – so that the response to the pandemic crisis is as effective as possible in terms of its economic and social effects. He acknowledges that the last month has been vertiginous and insists that the emergency measures adopted at the last Eurogroup meeting were necessary and innovative. He admits that the most challenging part still remains to come – to draw the next plan to recover the European economy and in that regard, the disagreements are greater. It is up to the European Council, next Thursday, to shape the scope/reach of that plan, and how to finance it.