Jan Fischer, the new Czech leader, will chair an EU summit in Brussels next week
Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, won support on Wednesday for her criticisms of the unconventional monetary policies of the world’s leading central banks from the prime minister of the Czech Republic, the current holder of the European Union’s presidency.
“I’m not too far away from her opinion myself,” Jan Fischer, a non-party technocrat who took over as Czech premier last month, told the Financial Times in an interview.
Ms Merkel caused surprise last week when she publicly criticised the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and even the European Central Bank for pouring vast amounts of liquidity into the markets in an attempt to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis and recession.
Her remarks broke a cardinal rule of German political life – namely, that government leaders should refrain from commenting on the policies of the ECB, whose independence from political pressure is enshrined in its statutes.
Mr Fischer’s comments make clear, however, that Ms Merkel is by no means alone among EU leaders in fearing that central banks are risking serious inflationary problems in the future unless they revert soon to more conservative monetary policies.
Mr Fischer stressed that he was not claiming to speak for the EU as a whole, saying: “Of course, this is just my personal opinion. I’m not speaking in my capacity as EU president, but as an economist.”
Nonetheless, his views carry a certain weight. The Czech leader, who served as head of the national statistics office before he replaced Mirek Topolanek as premier, is to chair a EU summit in Brussels next week at which the bloc’s 27 heads of government will assess how successful Europe’s anti-recessionary measures have been over the past year.
Most EU countries are letting their budget deficits and public debts rise sharply to counter the recession, but the Czech and German governments see eye to eye on the need to restore order to Europe’s public finances as soon as possible.
Their concern about the recent unorthodox monetary policies of central banks and the high deficit spending by governments underline the lack of appetite across much of Europe for an even more aggressive fiscal and monetary response to the crisis.
Mr Fischer said he had encountered similar views during his talks with other EU national leaders ahead of next week’s summit. “Whatever their party allegiance, left or right, they realise that this issue is extremely serious, and we should not let ourselves be frivolous,” he said.
Mr Fischer also disclosed that EU leaders had not yet agreed among themselves on whether to make a legally binding decision at the summit to propose José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, for a second five-year term.
Some leaders, such as Fredrik Reinfeldt, Sweden’s prime minister, support this course of action, but others want EU leaders to limit themselves at the summit to a purely political declaration in favour of Mr Barroso.
“As regards the sample of people that I’ve had a chance to speak with, either personally or by telephone, it’s 50-50,” Mr Fischer said.
He had ascertained the views of six leaders – those of Finland, Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Poland – but did not reveal which option each preferred.
EU diplomats said that a purely political statement in support of Mr Barroso could delay his reappointment for several months and put him under increasing political pressure as he prepares to select the members of the next Commission.
