The Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, Paschal Donohoe has said the ability of political leaders to stand by the European Union should not be underestimated.
Delivering a speech in Trinity College this evening in his capacity as President of the Eurogroup, Minister Donohoe said: "This solidarity may be imperfect, it may be driven by the exhaustive need to find finely balanced compromises but this solidarity does exist. Behind economic instruments there exists a political resolve."
The Minister said the resilience of Europe's economy in the face of the Covid crises and the Russian invasion of Ukraine was down to 'structure, stance and solidarity.’
He referred to the decision to suspend the EU’s fiscal rules and to facilitate state aid for businesses.
He said it was imperative that economic policies remain ‘coordinated and backed by consensus.’
