German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz stated Wednesday that Berlin would like Paris to give up the French seat in the UNSC, in order to create a rotating EU seat instead.
France has been a permanent member of the UN Security Council (UNSC) since its foundation in 1945, along with Russia, the US, China, and Great Britain. As a great power and one of the victors of World War II, the country has the right to veto any substantive Security Council resolution.
Strengthening Eurozone
Scholz also claimed that Eurozone reforms should include changing the European Stability Mechanism bailout fund to a European Monetary Fund (EMF).
‘[We want an ESM] With a bigger remit and possibilities for preparing and implementing aid programmes for euro countries which — despite good policies — have got into difficulties’, the German minister stressed, adding that the bloc needs to promote a Eurozone budget as part of the EU budget in order to help economic cooperation within the EU.
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Earlier this month, French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire addressed the budget policy of the Eurozone, stressing that a standoff between Rome and Brussels on the Italian budget might lead to a new crisis in the bloc.