Vestager: Premature To Be Envisaging Second European Stimulus Plan

The European Union must focus on its current €750 billion (US$910 billion) pandemic recovery package before envisaging further stimulus, the EU’s antitrust chief told Les Echos, adding that talk of a second plan was a “bit bizarre,” reported Reuters.

In an interview to be published on Monday, May 17, in the French newspaper, Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice president, shot down the need for an additional economic stimulus package for now.

US President Joe Biden is proposing a US$4 trillion package to rebuild the economy, including programs for infrastructure, childcare, and education.

His push has raised questions among some in Europe over whether more would be needed to boost companies and investment programs post-COVID-19.

“It’s way too soon to be considering it,” Vestager was quoted as saying in Les Echos. “I find it a bit bizarre to be talking about a new stimulus plan that we are not sure we need, when we already have so much to do.”

France has pushed for a more ambitious economic recovery plan than the one already outlined, although the €750 billion, agreed last summer after the epidemic’s first wave, has yet to be disbursed.

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