
Bertelsmann Stiftung calls for European unemployment re-insurance scheme
Authors say everyone benefits.
Dr. S-W – 01/2019
A
study published by Bertelsmann Stiftung in December 2018 reiterates its
previously published position on the introduction of a European stabilisation fund
in times of crisis. As such, it lands right in the middle of the current
debate, which has now been taken up again by Finance Minister Olaf Scholz and
is in line with the Franco-German eurozone reform plan, which is also committed
to introducing such an instrument.
According
to the study, if such an insurance scheme had already been in place at the
beginning of the financial crisis, a quarter of the loss of income could have
been absorbed, including in Germany. In the period from 2000 to 2016, no
country would have been a ‘permanent’ net contributor or beneficiary; however, this
does not say who ultimately would have received the most in relation to contributions.
The stabilisation fund should only provide assistance in times of ‘severe economic
crises’ and only for the short term. However, the fund should only compensate
for fluctuations in the unemployment rate, and not differences in levels.
Whereas
the German Ministry of Finance’s proposal wants to help countries exposed to
shock via loans, the authors from Bertelsmann Stiftung have proposed transfer
payments because it is not just about an intertemporal smoothing, but also
about interregional stabilisation.