Status: 05/20/2022 02:21 am
EU Commission President von der Leyen wants to link the reconstruction of Ukraine to the reforms necessary for EU accession. Businessman Truger advocates joint EU debt for reconstruction.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has proposed linking future reconstruction aid for Ukraine to reforms given the country’s desire to join the EU.
“We will have to help finance the reconstruction of Ukraine anyway,” said von der Leyen on the ZDF program ‘Maybrit Illner’. Then, in her view, it made sense to say: “Yes to investments, but right away with the necessary reforms, for example against corruption or, for example, for establishing the rule of law. Ukraine wants that too, I discussed it again this morning with President (Volodymyr) Zelenskyy.”
According to von der Leyen, the European Union is also examining ways of using frozen Russian oligarch assets to finance post-war reconstruction in Ukraine. In this way, Russia can make a contribution to post-war reconstruction, said the President of the Commission.
Lots of motivation to join
Ukraine wants to join the European Union at any price, so there is a lot of motivation for the upcoming accession process. Ukraine has already applied to join the EU and would like to join as soon as possible. Last but not least, France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) slowed down. Accession to the EU usually takes several years from the date of application.
Von der Leyen emphasized that the course of the procedure ultimately depends on how Ukraine develops. “It depends on Ukraine itself how it manages this reconstruction at the end of this war, with which we will help, but how it actually implements the reforms, how it gets rid of the oligarchs, how it makes the necessary economic reforms.”
Wirtschaftsweiser: Common EU debts for reconstruction
Meanwhile, economist Achim Truger spoke out in favor of financing the reconstruction of Ukraine through joint debts from the European Union. A model similar to the Corona reconstruction fund could also make sense for the planned financial support for Ukraine, Truger told the newspapers of the Funke media group.
The member of the Advisory Council for the assessment of overall economic development considers such an instrument to stabilize the economy to be economically justifiable. “Although sums of 500 billion euros sound gigantic, in relation to the economic output of the EU it is only a good 3 percent,” said the economist.
Joint borrowing by the EU also entails fewer risks than uncoordinated national borrowing, “also because it strengthens trust in the EU and the joint ability to act.”
Topic overview
war in Ukraine