…when it comes to euro area nations giving up some budget sovereignty.
SPIEGEL: German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has proposed giving the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs a direct say in national budgets. What do you think of that proposal?
Draghi: I am fully in favour of it. Governments would be wise to seriously consider it. I firmly believe that, in order to restore confidence in the euro area, countries need to transfer part of their sovereignty to the European level.
SPIEGEL: But this is precisely what many governments are unwilling to do. Why is there so much resistance?
Draghi: A lot of governments have yet to realize that they lost their national sovereignty a long time ago. Because, in the past, they have allowed their debt to pile up, they now need the goodwill of the financial markets. That sounds like a paradox, but it is nonetheless true. Only when the euro area countries are willing to share sovereignty at the European level will they gain sovereignty.
You’ve got to give a little to get a lot, Draghi said this past weekend.
