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Embattled Hollande flies to Spain in search of ally

Deeply unpopular at home as he struggles with a stumbling economy, French President Francois Hollande headed to Spain on Wednesday seeking an ally to help avert new debt crises and to put jobs growth at the top of Europe's agenda.

Embattled Hollande flies to Spain in search of ally
Hollande headed to Spain on Wednesday hoping to generate support from another beleagured eurozone leader. Photo: Fred Dufour/AFP

Hollande flew to Madrid at a difficult moment, with France's economy shrinking 0.1 percent in the third quarter and a poll this month showing only 21 percent of the French approved of his policies, the lowest rating since the presidential system began more than 50 years ago.

The Socialist French leader, accompanied by his Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and eight ministers, can expect to find support from Spain's conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for reforms to how the eurozone operates at a December 19-20 European Union summit.

The French president, who was booed at a Remembrance Day ceremony in Paris this month, will find a warmer reception in Madrid where his team will have a working lunch with their hosts before a summit and a joint news conference with Rajoy.

Despite objections in Germany, Hollande and Rajoy both advocate creating a single banking authority capable of directly bailing out a member country's troubled banks, without asking the host state to foot the bill and thus push up its sovereign debt.

A French presidential official said it was the plight of Spain that sparked the original banking union proposal in June 2012, when the country faced being "trapped in a negative spiral" of rising sovereign debt and larger banking rescues.

Spain's eurozone partners last summer agreed to extend a banking rescue loan of up to 100 billion euros to shore up shaky Spanish institutions laden with weak assets since the collapse of a decade-long property bubble in 2008.

Madrid ended up using just 41 billion euros of the money for a bank restructuring programme, which ends in January, and the money it borrowed will automatically add to Spain's sovereign debt pile.

Hollande will find a friendly ear, too, when he pushes for the eurozone to support economic growth.

French officials expect the president to repeat his call, made at a meeting in Rome last week with Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta, to put "employment growth and stability at the heart of the decisions for the European summit in December".

Hollande is looking for support to boost investment capacity and pro-growth policies across the eurozone, French officials said.

Growth is a major concern for Spain, the eurozone's fourth-biggest economy, which has just crawled timidly out of two years of recession with 0.1 percent growth in the third quarter of this year.

Analysts say that level of growth is insufficient to create jobs in Spain, where the unemployment rate is 26 percent, rising to a staggering 54 percent for under-25s.

The summit in Madrid will discuss France's proposal for an "economic government" of the eurozone with a permanent Eurogroup chairman to oversee members' economic policies.

It will also specifically address unemployment. French officials said Madrid was pushing for an efficient use of European resources to combat youth joblessness.

Other issues on the agenda are migration, defence, anti-terrorism measures and transport.

A new high-speed railway from Paris to Barcelona is due to be opened in mid-December. Officials say it will cut the non-stop train journey time between the two cities to six hours and 20 minutes.

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COVID-19

Court turns down AfD-led challenge to Germany’s spending in pandemic

The German Constitutional Court rejected challenges Tuesday to Berlin's participation in the European Union's coronavirus recovery fund, but expressed some reservations about the massive package.

Court turns down AfD-led challenge to Germany's spending in pandemic

Germany last year ratified the €750-billion ($790-billion) fund, which offers loans and grants to EU countries hit hardest by the pandemic.

The court in Karlsruhe ruled on two challenges, one submitted by a former founder of the far-right AfD party, and the other by a businessman.

They argued the fund could ultimately lead to Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, having to take on the debts of other EU member states on a permanent basis.

But the Constitutional Court judges ruled the EU measure does not violate Germany’s Basic Law, which forbids the government from sharing other countries’ debts.

READ ALSO: Germany plans return to debt-limit rules in 2023

The judgement noted the government had stressed that the plan was “intended to be a one-time instrument in reaction to an unprecedented crisis”.

It also noted that the German parliament retains “sufficient influence in the decision-making process as to how the funds provided will be used”.

The judges, who ruled six to one against the challenges, did however express some reservations.

They questioned whether paying out such a large amount over the planned period – until 2026 – could really be considered “an exceptional measure” to fight the pandemic.

At least 37 percent of the funds are aimed at achieving climate targets, the judges said, noting it was hard to see a link between combating global warming and the pandemic.

READ ALSO: Germany to fast-track disputed €200 billion energy fund

They also warned against any permanent mechanism that could lead to EU members taking on joint liability over the long term.

Berenberg Bank economist Holger Schmieding said the ruling had “raised serious doubts whether the joint issuance to finance the fund is in line with” EU treaties.

“The German court — once again — emphasised German limits for EU fiscal integration,” he said.

The court had already thrown out a legal challenge, in April 2021, that had initially stopped Berlin from ratifying the financial package.

Along with French President Emmanuel Macron, then chancellor Angela Merkel sketched out the fund in 2020, which eventually was agreed by the EU’s 27 members in December.

The first funds were disbursed in summer 2021, with the most given to Italy and Spain, both hit hard by the pandemic.

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