De EU als trans­fer­unie? lie­ver een mini-VS dan een maxi-Bel­gië

Though the EU is simultaneously a free trade area, a single market and (for most of its Member States) a currency union, it is still characterized by poor economic integration and significant cultural differences between its Member States. These features argue against the Next Generation EU budget that became a reality last year. This budget implies a significant increase in net fiscal transfers between EU member states, to be financed by joint debt issuance. Given the poor economic integration of the EU, federal fiscal modesty is in order, unless one wants to adopt the Belgian model, with permanent fiscal solidarity between north and south and little prospect of economic convergence.