In a double-interview with Spiegel magazine, the two candidates for the presidency of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker and Martin Schulz, spoke in favour of the idea, which is highly popular in France, Spain, Italy and Greece. "I am still in favour of eurobonds, but I had to take note that there will be no majorities for it in the foreseeable future", the centre-left's Schulz said.
He added that it would be already a great step forward if big projects could be funded with joint loans. The pilot phase of a so-called project bonds scheme was launched by the European Commission last year with €230 million worth of unused funds, boosted by loans from the European Investment Bank.
For his part, Juncker, who is from the same centre-right political family as German Chancellor Angela Merkel - the main opponent of eurobonds - said he had been in favour of the scheme for at least four years. "In December 2010 I pleaded in favour of eurobonds together with the conservative Italian finance minister Giulio Tremonti", he said.
Juncker, who was the longest-serving Prime Minister in the EU until last year when he stepped down in a spying scandal in his home country Luxembourg, admitted the time has not yet come for eurobonds to materialise. "But I think they are the right instrument in the long run", he said.
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Spiegel interview
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