French Minister for Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire: EU faces 'gravest crisis'
The Interview
BBC
4.3 • 537 Ratings
🗓️ 22 May 2020
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union struggled to respond with collective action. The countries first and worst affected, Italy and Spain, complained of a lack of solidarity. Is that changing? The leaders of France and Germany are backing a plan to inject at least 500 billion euros into an economic recovery programme. Stephen Sackur speaks to French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. Is the pandemic taking the EU in a new direction?
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Stephen Sacker. |
| 0:07.0 | Thanks for downloading this edition of the program. I do hope you enjoy it. |
| 0:11.6 | Welcome to Hard Talk on the BBC World Service with me, Stephen Sacker. My guest today is France's |
| 0:18.2 | finance minister and close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, Bruno Le Maire. |
| 0:24.3 | The past couple of months have been extremely challenging for the French government and the European |
| 0:29.7 | Union. The COVID-19 pandemic has morphed from a public health emergency into a significant threat |
| 0:37.2 | to the political and economic structures of the |
| 0:40.4 | EU. Those countries hit first and worst by the virus, Italy and Spain, have complained bitterly |
| 0:47.1 | about a lack of solidarity. The Italian Prime Minister suggested it raised questions about the entire |
| 0:53.9 | future of the European project. |
| 0:56.8 | Well, now the EU's two biggest powers, France and Germany, have come up with a joint proposal |
| 1:03.3 | to pump at least 500 billion euros into an economic recovery plan, which would see the EU |
| 1:09.9 | as a collective institution, |
| 1:12.4 | borrow the money and then disperse it primarily as grants, not loans. |
| 1:18.5 | It looks and sounds like a form of debt sharing, which has alarmed some of the richer |
| 1:24.8 | and more fiscally frugal member states. So is the pandemic taking the EU in a new |
| 1:31.6 | direction? Well, Bruno Le Maire joins me from the finance ministry in Paris now. Welcome to Hard Talk. |
| 1:38.7 | Thank you. Good morning. Let me start getting your response to the dramatic video conference joint appearance by your president, Mr. Macron, and Angela Merkel of Germany yesterday. |
| 1:51.1 | Mrs. Merkel said that the EU is facing the gravest crisis in its history and we must find appropriate answers. Do you believe those answers have been found? |
| 2:05.0 | I think they have been found and I fully share the assessment of Chancellor Angela Merkel, |
| 2:10.3 | who are clearly facing the gravest crisis in the history of the European Union, an economic crisis, a social crisis, but also |
| 2:20.3 | a political one. And we need new and strong responses. And I really think that Chancellor |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.