Open letter to Angela Merkel

The signatories, including two Nobel Laureates for Chemistry, more than 20 MEPs, the former head of the International Atomic Agency and the General Secretary of the European Trade Union conference, call upon Merkel to support the creation of European Bonds to finance economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemics.

The letter can be signed at this link

Sehr geehrte Frau Kanzlerin,

Throughout the coronavirus outbreak – as so many times before – you have shown leadership for your country. Both as a chancellor and as a physicist you grasped the depth of the sanitary emergency and the challenges it represents to Europe as a whole.

We now turn to you as German and European citizens to ask you, in the best tradition of German European policy, to lead a united European response to the economic and financial crisis prompted by this pandemic.

With great concern we witness growing anger, acrimony and resentment between countries in the South and the North of Europe. An epidemic knows no barriers between North and South, nor should it be permitted to create them. Rather, as an existential threat to the European Union as a whole, it calls for new forms of European solidarity.

Unless such new forms of European solidarity are found, some countries will be facing far deeper consequences than others. This alarms us. We know Germany remembers the dramatic recession it suffered after the First World War. If the other European countries had prevented that recession, how would history have played out? Wasn’t the European Union created precisely to write a different history?

Since the end of WWII, Germany, more than any other country, has had the capacity to learn from its bitter past. The immediate reform of its armed forces and, above all, the painful but rigorous facing of individual and collective atrocities, are and remain the foundation of a new Germany as well as important aspects of a European heritage.

In difficult circumstances your country’s vision for Europe has prevailed over even legitimate national claims. No supporter of a United Europe can forget the lifelong commitment of Willy Brandt to a European Germany as opposed to a German Europe. A commitment shared by Helmut Kohl, who gained his place in history as an essential partner of a virtuous exchange between the creation of the euro and the immediate unification of Germany, which came about through dialogue and in solidarity with Europe as a whole.

The present pandemic is an unforeseen emergency that calls for similar dialogue and solidarity, in the ultimate interest of everybody concerned.

European bonds, tied to this context but of much greater historical significance, are the necessary guarantee and fulfillment of the efforts made by the European Central Bank and individual nations. As suggested by leading German and European economists, such a proposal would allow time to tackle an emergency that could otherwise turn into a eurozone crisis and, ultimately, into a social and economic tragedy. A century ago, European nations did not listen to the advice of John Maynard Keynes and other leading economists and thinkers, with catastrophic consequences. We must not make the same mistake now.

It is of paramount importance to act now and show the people of Europe that we are actually doing so in an extraordinary way. We ask you to lead this action in the European Council, signalling to the world that Europeans stand together in the face of this crisis and are ready to do whatever it takes to preserve our union and in fact strengthen it in the face of hardship.

We are confident, sehr geehrte Frau Merkel, that this will happen under your tenureship and add to your legacy as Bundeskanzlerin and as a great European.

Sincerely yours,

Alberto Alemanno, Jean Monnet Professor in EU Law at HEC Paris – Paris (France)
Sigrún Aðalbjarnardóttir – Professor Emeritus – Reykjavík (Iceland)
Carolina Alves – Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics University of Cambridge (UK)
Rasmus Andresen, MEP, GErmany
Marie Arena – MEP – Belgium
Amanda Baker-Frommholz, Leherin – Berlin (Germany)
John Barnes, Professor – Germany
Anthony Barnett, writer and activist – Oxford (UK)
Quique Bassat – ICREA research professor, Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) – Barcelona (Spain)
Catherine Bearder – fomer MEP – UK
Brando Benifei, MEP, Italy
Violeta Berisha – UNHCR Amabasador – Prishtina/ Kosovo
Felice C. Besostri, former Italian Senator (1996-2001) and membere of PACE – Milano (Italy)
Hans Blix, Director-General Emeritus of the IAEA – Vienna (Austria)
Cinthia Bianconi, President Adriano Olivetti Foundation – Rome (Italy)
Akeel Bilgrami, Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University – New York (USA)
Marja Bijl – vicepresident PES WOMEN – Rotterdam (Netherlands)
Floriana Bondanese – Lawyer – London (UK)
Irina Bondarevskaya – Associate professor, University of Educational Management NAES – Kiev (Ukraine)
Mario Bova, Ambassador, former Director General for Europe, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, (Italy)
Franziska Brantner, former MEP and current MdB (Grunen) – Berlin (Germany)
Judith Bunting – former MEP and filmamker – UK
Marius Busemeyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Konstanz, Germany
Ana Paula Caetano – Professor of Education – Lisboa Portugal
Gustavo Cardoso, Full Professor Media and Society – Lisboa (Portugal)
Paula Casal, ICREA professor of political philosophy – Barcelona (Spain)
Stephan Castle – Honorary Professor in Sociology, University of Sydney (Australia)
Yohann Chaigneau – Economist BEI – Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
Sandra Chistolini – professor of Education – University of Rome 3 – Rome (Italy)
Hélène Conway-Mouret – Vice-présidente du sénat Paris (France)
Luke Cooper, Consultant researcher, London School of Economics, CCS – London (UK)
Melinda Cooper, Professor of Sociology and Social Policy- Camberra (Australia)
Manuel Cortes, General Secretary TSSA – London (UK)
Colin Crouch, sociologist, Oxford (UK)
Veena Das, Professor of Antropology, Johns Hopkins University – Baltimore (USA)
Donatella Della Porta, Professor of political science at Scuola Normale Superiore – Florence (Italy)
Petra De Sutter, MEP, Belgium
Milos Djajic – Independent associate at Academy of arts in Novi Sad – Serbia
Caterina Di Fazio, Postdoc, Maastricht University/Agora Europe, Co-founder, Maastricht (Netherlands)
Zefi Dimadama – Vice President PESWOMEN / Dep. Spokeperson KINAL, PASOK – Athens (Greece)
Pascal Durand – MEP – France
Carmen Dutu – Associate Professor, Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Bucharest (Rumania)
David Edgerton – Professor of modern British history at King’s College London (UK)
Roberto Esposito – Professore Scuola Normale Superiore – Pisa (Italia)
Ricahrd Etienne – Professeur émérite en sciences de l’éducation – Montepellier (France)
Trevor Evans – Professor of Economics – Berlin (Germany)
Daniel Innerarity Professor of Political Philosophy University of the Basque Country
Anna Falcone, avvocato, Rome (Italy)
Ana Maria Falu, Emeritus Professor National University of Cordoba – Cordoba (Argentina)
Emanuele Felice, Professor of Political Economy, Università di Chieti-Pescara (Italy)
Josep Ferret Mas,Lecturer in phylosophy – Barcelona (Spain)
Marc Fleurbaey, Robert E. Kuenne Professor of Economics and Humanistic Studies – Princeton (USA)
Michele Fiorillo, CIVICO Europa /Scuola Normale Superiore – Verona (Italia)
Carlton Fitzgerald – Professor Uinversity of Oradea (Romania)
Jack Franco, DiEM25 UK National Collective – London (UK)
Joachim Frank, Professor at Columbia University; 2017 Nobel Prize in Chemistry – New York (USA)
Christian Freksa, Research Professor of Cognitive Systems, Bremen (Germany)
Andrea Glauser – Sociologist, Professsor of Cultural Studies – Vienna (Austria)
Raphaël Glucksmann, MEP, France
Geoff Gibas- Communications Strategist- Covid19 Best Practice Task Force – Bulle (Switerzland)
Jason Gold, photographer – Skopje (Montenegro)
Cécilia Gondard – National Secretary, Parti Socialiste, France
Sandro Gozi – MEP – France
Piero Graglia, Professor of History of European integration at University of Milan – Milan (Italy)
Stephany Griffith-Jones, Emeritus Professorial Fellow, IDS, Sussex University (UK)
Gianluca Grimalda, Senior researcher at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy – Kiel (Germany)
Enrique Guerrero – former MEP – Spain
Francisco Guerreiro, MEP Portugal
Bernard Guetta – MEP – France
Catherine Guicherd, Senior Consultant for humanitarian aid (France)
Sacriste Guillaume, Assistant professor in political science Université Paris 1 – Paris (France)
Paula Guimarães – assistant professor – Lisbona (Portugal)
Nicole Tutiaux Guillon – Professeure émérite en sciences de l’éducation – Vertou (France)
José Gusmão, MEP, Portugal
Colin Hay, Professor of political science, Institut d’Etudes Politiques – Paris (France)
Susan Himmelweit, Emeritus Professor of Economics, Open University – London (UK)
Felix Hoffmann, coordinator Take a Break from Brexit – Breisach (Germany)
Bojana Culum Ilic – Associate professor in Eductation- University of Rijeka – Croatia
Michael Jacobs, Professor of Political Economy, University of Sheffield (UK)
Sheila Jasanoff, Professor of Public Policy – Cambridge (USA)
Christoph Jetter, Psychiatrist, Hamburg (Germany)
Janina Jetter – translator – Oxford (UK)
Michael Jonas – sociologist – Vienna (Austria)
Ben Judah, Author and fellow at the Hudson Institute – London (UK)
Naila Kabeer, Professor, International Development and Gender Studies – London (UK)
Nathalie Karagiannis, poet and researcher – Barcelona (Spain)
Mary Kaldor, Professor of Global Governance, London School of Economics – London (UK)
Andreas Kalyvas, Associate Professor of Politics – (Greece)
John Katsillis – Professor of Education – University of Patras (Greece)
Michaela Kauer – Senior Official in Public EU Affairs – Vienna (Austria)
Jude Kirton-Darling, former UK MEP – Bruxelles (Belgium)
Sue Konzelmann, Reader in Management, Birbeck, University of London (UK)
Arndt Kohn, former German MEP (SPD) – Stolberg (Germany)
Jürgen Kocka, Prof. (em) für Geschichte, Freie Universität Berlin (Germany)
Robert Kunst, Professor of Economics – Vienna (Austria)
Aurore Lalucq, MEP, France
Simona Laurian-Fitzgerald, Associate professor social study University of Oradea (Romania)
Marc Lazar, Professor of history and sociology, Institut d’Etudes Politiques – Paris (France)
Jo Leinen – former German MEP (SPD) – Germany
Eveline Le Roy, Coordinator international relations VIVES University of Applied Sciences – Kortrijk (Belgium)
Sonja Licht Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence and Steering Board of Belgrade Security Forum , Belgrade (Serbia)
Beate Littig, Dozent, Institute for Advanced Studies – Vienna (Austria)
Nora Lustig,Professor of Economics – New Orleans (USA)
Gregoir Mallard, Professor of Anthropology and Sociology, Graduate Institute Geneve (Switerland and Germany)
Chiara Mariotti, Development Economist, London (UK)
Dora Marucco, Professor of history of political institutions – Torino (Italy)
Fabian Muniesa, Professor of Economics/Social scientist – Paris (France)
Giorgio Maran, writer and activist – Varese (Italy)
Marisa Matias, MEP Portugal
Roulla Mavronikola – former MEP – Cyprus
Yves Mény – Emeritus President European University Institute (France)
Gian Giacomo Migone, former chair, Foreign Relations Committee, Senate of the Republic of Italy
Niccolo Milanese, Director European Alternatives – Paris (France)
Sadia Mir – Academic in economics & policy, WUNRN EU – Bruxelles (Belgium)
Shaffaq Mohammed former MEP – UK
Simon Mohun – Emeritus professor of political economy, Queen Mary University of London (UK)
Michael Newman – Jean Monnet Personal Chair – London (UK)
Jose Juan Moreso. Professor of Legal Philosophy Pompeu Fabra University – Barcelona (Spain)
Richard Murphy, Professor of Practice in International Political Economy, City University, London (UK)
Lucy Nethsingha – former MEP – UK
Andrea Nightingale, Professor of Geography – Oslo (Norway)
Simone Oggionni, chair culture department Articolo Uno – LeU – Rome (Italy)
Martin O’Neill, Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy – York (UK)
Grace O’Sullivan, MEP, Ireland
Prabhat Patnaik, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University – New Delhi (India)
Andrea Pisauro, Researcher in Experimental Psychology – University of Oxford (UK)
John Polanyi, Professor of Chemistry, Nobel Laureate, University of Toronto (Canada)
Andrea Porcarelli – Associated Professor of Pedagogy in Padua University – Padova (Italy)
Stefano Prato – Managing Director, Society for International Development (SID) – Italy
Omri Preiss – Managing Director, Alliance4Europe – Bruxelles (Belgium)
Teresa Pullano – Assistant Professor in European Global Studies – Basel Switzerland
Hillel Rapoport, Professor of Economics – Paris (France)
Antonio Maldonado Rico, Profesor de la Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (Spain)
John E. Roemer, Professor of politics and economics, Yale (USA)
Sandra Rone, Leading researcher Insitute of Humanities, director Inclusive Educational Development Centre – Riga (Latvia)
Pierre Rosanvallon, Professor of modern and contemporary political history, College de France Paris (France)
Alistair Ross – Jean Monnet Professor of Politics and Education, London Metropolitan University; London (UK)
Martin Sabrow, Director Leibniz-Zentrum für Zeithistorische Forschung Potsdam, (Germany)
Guillaume Sacriste, Assistant professor in political science, Université Paris 1 – Paris (France)
Marie Laure Salles-Djelic, Professor, Dean School of Management and Innovation, Sciences Po Paris (France)
Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology – New York (USA) and London (UK)
Wolfram Siemann, Professor Emeritus of European History, Munchen (Germany)
Florbela Sousa, Senior Assistant Professor – Lisbon (Portugal)
Ognen Spasovski, Professor in Psychology, UKIM, Skopje (Macedonia)
Barbara Spinelli – former MEP – Italy
Shauna Stack, Researcher in social studies- Vienna (Austria)
Olle Svenning, columnist and former editor of “Aftonbladet” – Stockholm (Sweden)
Francois Taddei, Director, The Center for Research and Interdisciplinarity – Paris (France)
Dominique Taddei, Economist – Monticello (France)
Irène Tolleret – MEP – France
PANAGIOTA TZELEPI – Professor Emerita University of Patras, (Greece)
Nadia Urbinati, Professor of Polical Science, Columbia University, New York (USA)
Anne-Marie Van den Dries – Former Head Internationalisation VIVES – De Pinte Belgium
Federico Varese, Professor of Criminology, Oxford University (UK)
Antoine Vauchez, CNRS Research professor at Université Paris – Paris (France)
Juan Carlos Velasco – Research Professor in Philosopy at CSIC – Madrid (Spain)
Roberto Veneziani, Professor of Economics – London (UK)
Mara Vidnere – Professor Institute of Economics and Management Research – Riga (Latvia)
Luca Visentini – General Secretary, European Trade Union Confederation – Bruxelles (Belgium)
Caroline Voaden – former MEP – UK
Ingrid Volkmer, Professor, Digital Policy, University of Melbourne – (Australia and Germany)
Ulrich Volz – Director of the Centre for Sustainable Finance, SOAS, University of London (UK)
Astrid Wagner – Research Scientist in Philosopy at CSIC – Madrid (Spain)
Peter Wagner, Professor of Social Sciences – University of Barcelona – (Spain and Germany)
Julie Ward, former UK MEP – UK
John Weeks, Economist, Professor Emeritus of the School of Oriental and African Studies – London (UK)
Bernd Wegner. Professor Emeritus of Modern European History, Hamburg (Germany)
Josef Weidenholzer, professor Emeritus, former MEP and Vice President of S&D Group, Linz Austria
Irina von Wiese – former MEP – UK
Andrew Williams – ICREA Research Professor – Barcelona (Spain)
Rudolf Winter-Ebmer – Professor of Econommics – Linz (Austria)
Nikki Wordsmith – Writer – London (UK)Salma Zulfiqar – artist – London (UK)
Michael Zeuske Senior Research Professor, University of Bonn (Germany)
Tana de Zulueta, Spanish- Italian journalist and former member of the Italian Parliament – Rome (Italy)

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