Letter to the editor: 'Some Europeans just don't trust other EU countries with their money'

Four years ago a friend said to me that making predictions for the future is a futile exercise. Most people can reasonably predict the next three months – in normal times. Beyond that, all manner of unforeseen things can pop up.

Go back a few years, for example, when Donald Trump was not expected to win the US presidential election. David Cameron was expected to win the Brexit referendum – albeit narrowly, but win nonetheless. That didn’t happen; who would have known that Boris Johnson would now be prime minister?

The UK is still under strain. The EU united more than ever in the face of Brexit though, perhaps, less so in its response to Covid-19.

So where to from here?

‘Economy being destroyed’

A few years ago, farmers began to worry about the possible affects of Brexit. One might have wondered if it was even worth putting a bull out with the cows?

Then we moved on to a fodder crisis – amidst the drought of 2018 that dragged on. More recently, we had the wettest February for what some say is 150 years.

Covid-19 was relatively unheard of – at least in this part of the world – until 2020. Now, just a few months later, many world leaders seem unsure of how to deal with this crisis.

Do you go for full-blown elimination…or a milder form of suppression in the hope that the local population will build up ‘herd immunity’? All the while, national economies are wasting away…

Also Read: Opinion: A ‘protectionist mantra’ is not in Irish farming’s best interests

It’s clear that both the health threat and the economic threat must be fixed simultaneously. I am intrigued by the approach in the UK, whereby the Bank of England appears receptive to the concept of ‘helicopter money’. This policy will surely be expanded upon.

‘In contrast to the EU…’

This is in sharp contrast to the EU. Twice this year, it has failed its people. Firstly, it didn’t agree the MFF [Multiannual Financial Framework] budget. Secondly, it didn’t agree on the issue of ‘corona bonds’.

Are the people of Europe simply too diverse to come together, especially in a time of crisis like this? One suspects that northern Europeans simply don’t trust some other EU countries with their money!

Meanwhile, the irony is that the UK might get its act together, get over Covid-19 and even make a ‘success’ – of sorts – of Brexit.

From William Reid, farmer, Birr, Co. Offaly