Reuters: Ex German Finance Minister favours joint eurozone debt

11 August 2012

Former German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrück, a possible challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel in next year's election, spoke out in favour of common debt issuance in the eurozone, even though the Berlin government and most Germans oppose it.

Steinbrück, popular with the middle-of-the-road voters his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) hope to win back in the 2013 election, said  that he backed SPD chairman Sigmar Gabriel's recent call for common debt issuance and closer fiscal integration. "The party chairman is right about that and the development will go in this direction", Steinbrück said, adding that the European Union will have to be able to intervene directly more strongly than before in the fiscal policies of struggling countries.

Steinbrueck took his time to endorse the proposal from Gabriel, who is popular among the SPD's left wing. But after it won support from SPD parliamentary floor leader Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a moderate and another potential challenger to Merkel, Steinbrück finally gave his blessing. It is an endorsement fraught with risk for Steinbrück and the SPD, eager to return to government after falling out of power in the 2009 election, as opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Germans are opposed to the issuance of eurozone bonds.

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