The immediate trigger for change is the coronavirus pandemic, which is expected to plunge the EU into the sharpest decline in its history, fundamentally changing Germany’s fiscal and European policies.

The new Finnish Finance Minister, Matti Vanhanen, called for coordination of economic recovery measures at EU level in order to alleviate the long-term costs of blocking the coronavirus at its first press conference after his appointment. Vanhanen was the Finnish Prime Minister from 2003 to 2010, during the previous financial crisis, and highlighted the experience gained in coordinating the measures. He added that the main challenge of his work will be to manage the costs associated with the pandemic.

At European level, Mr Scholz helped adopt a € 500 billion emergency package in the eurozone and worked with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire on a Franco-German proposal for a recovery fund. Nevertheless, Finland has stated that its net lending will increase by € 18.8 billion in 2020 after a fourth supplementary budget was agreed to protect the country from the costs of the coronavirus epidemic.