The Former European Commission President and a staunch supporter of the European integration project, Roman Prodi was very critical of the German stance on the Greek crisis, in a long article entitled “Europe must halt the unacceptable German blitzkrieg” published in Italian Il Messaggero, Sunday. “We cannot take away the main foundations of the common policy with decisions that clearly lead to the dissolution of the Union”, writes Prodi.
The experienced Italian statesman stresses that a compromise was finally reached on the Greek matter only after the United States and other major leaders succeeded in stifling German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble’s Grexit plan. He warns, however, that even though the worst case scenario was avoided, this compromise is a negative development because it has sown the seeds for an atmosphere of ‘personal egoisms, grudges and fears’, which could lead to new tensions.
He continues by accusing Schauble on his statements that essentially limit the Commission’s role and jurisdiction by handing over the most delicate economic decisions to an authority under the control of Berlin. According to Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (FAZ), the German Minister had stated that he wanted some of the powers of the European Commission to be transferred to independent European authorities.
Prodi claims these statements should be taken as the official position of Berlin and underlined that he felt the ‘political and moral duty’ to oppose them. The centre-left Italian politician said the issue was not a legal matter but one of political substance.
