I spoke to five EU papers on the EU emergency response to the crisis and the need to address the financial legacies of this crisis in the recovery phase. 1/7

https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/council-eu/eurogroup/president/news/20200415-centeno-interview-5-papers/

The uneven national responses to this crisis are a concern. Germany’s policy response, for instance, has been stronger than Italy’s. We need to ensure a level playing field and that no one is left behind. This is the objective of the €540 b safety net agreed last week.
2/7

For the next phase, the recovery fund will have to be a very sizeable, commensurate with the damage to the economy. Too soon to fix a number. Costs will be clearer once we start unwinding lockdown measures.
3/7

In a lockdown we have to provide liquidity to firms, income support to workers, and backstops for sovereigns. This implies a big accumulation of debt. We need to help ourselves, as a euro area, by spreading these costs over time.
4/7

It's reasonable to expect that we will need until the end of 2022 to recover. But debt takes longer to fall. The legacy of this crisis will stay with us for more time.
5/7

The single market is a very strong form of mutualisation. We buy each other textiles, flowers, pasta... We live in a highly integrated economy. There is no single market without markets.
6/7

About 75% of Portugal’s exports are to the EU. Countries like BE, LUX, or NL are even more dependent on the single market. If we fail to protect it what will happen to our economies?
7/7