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Former German Finance Minister Peer, a possible challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel in next year’s election, spoke in favor of granting a general debt in the euro area, although the government in Berlin and most Germans are against him, officials said.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung before Steinbrueck said he supports the President of the Social Democrat Sigmar Gabriel, who is “the” general issue of Eurobonds and fiscal integration.
“The chairman of the party is right about this development and will go in that direction,” Steinbrueck said.
He added that the European Union should be able to intervene directly in the fiscal policies of financially troubled countries.
Peer Steinbrueck criticized the coalition partners of Angela Merkel, who do not support the idea of sharing the debts in the euro area.
“They are frivolous,” said the politician, adding that the euro has already become a “community of debtors.”
Italy, Spain and France called for issuing Eurobonds as a common way to deal with the crisis of confidence in financial markets and to lower the cost of debt of these countries in the European currency unit, who have problems with interest on the bonds.
Germany, however, opposes any proposal for joint issuance of debt because of fears it would harm the economy.
Steinbrueck position is quite risky, given that the majority of Germans support the idea of solidarity debts.