- 17 hours ago
Europe Today: Interview with Varoufakis; EU leaders to debate eurobonds in informal summit
Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme at 8 am Brussels time. In just 20 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/02/12/europe-today-interview-with-varoufakis-eu-leaders-to-debate-eurobonds-in-informal-summit
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Tune in to Euronews' new flagship morning programme at 8 am Brussels time. In just 20 minutes, we bring you up to speed on the biggest news of the day.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/02/12/europe-today-interview-with-varoufakis-eu-leaders-to-debate-eurobonds-in-informal-summit
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:14Good morning, it is Thursday the 12th of February. I'm Maeve McMahan and this is Europe Today.
00:22Your daily dose of European news and analysis live here on Euronews.
00:26Coming up, EU Retreat Day is here. European heads of state and government are spending this
00:33Thursday in the middle of the Belgian countryside in a 16th century castle. Despite the beautiful
00:39backdrop, the ghosts of the past will haunt them. On the agenda, the same debate about Euro
00:44bonds and a bi-European rule that's been going round in circles for years. Mario Draghi and Enrico
00:50Leto will also be on site offering their tips on how the EU can compete with the US and China.
00:56But the big debate remains over who should pay.
01:00For more on this informal summit, which in EU jargon means there will be no formal conclusions,
01:04we're joined here in the studio by our EU news editor, Maria Tadeo, before she makes her
01:08way to that very gathering. Good morning, Maria. Just a reminder of yours, what is at stake today?
01:14Well, Maeve, it is an informal summit, but to some extent there is very little informal about
01:18it and it is very intentional because when we spoke with the president of the European Council,
01:24Antonio Costa, and he told us on Euronews, yes, this gathering will take place and Mario Draghi will
01:29be invited. Of course, Mario Draghi, just to give a background, some context to our viewers,
01:34this is a man who is highly influential in the European diplomatic circles. Everyone who's important to
01:41that extent, who's someone who would like to think I am someone in this space, in the capitals here in
01:46Brussels, but also just in the overall sphere of European policy making, reads every speech and every
01:52word that he says. So he will participate in this meeting. But going back to Antonio Costa, he told us
01:57clearly, we need to come out of this with new impetus. We need clear political guidance from the capitals and
02:03the member states. Last year, we focused a lot on security. This year, we need to focus on the European
02:08economy, on competitiveness and really bolster the single market. And that has to be intentional. So
02:14in a way, the value of this informal gathering today is the sequence that it could kickstart to reorient
02:20the European economy. We're starting to see, of course, the different groups that are emerging. Emmanuel
02:25Macron, obviously, yes, he is much weaker at home and he's seen better times in domestic policies, but he
02:31still knows how to make a headline, how to make news, but also how to kickstart debates. He gave
02:36an interview to the European press at the start of the week saying, we need now this capability,
02:41this capacity to borrow collectively. Obviously, that means euro bonds. He's putting on the table
02:45more Europe, a Europe that is able to protect. He joked yesterday, whenever you hear a French guy say
02:50protection, you go, oh, protectionism. But trust me, it's not the case. But of course, for others,
02:56it sounds a lot like my companies and Europe. And that's very much it. The other side to the story
03:02is Germany, the Belgians, also Italy on this camp who argue, look, ultimately, these are very
03:09intellectual debates. We cannot do everything at once all the time. The way to fix the European
03:13economy is to really channel through the industry. And that means more leniency when it comes to targets,
03:19a pragmatic approach to climate. And let's just throw everything at the European industry and provide
03:24the tools they need, including lowering energy prices. So a lot more pragmatic.
03:28Indeed. So we should expect a big battle today, just briefly.
03:31Look, we should expect a big battle. Obviously, the question of the euro bonds, however,
03:35it's not shocking to me, because ultimately, the point of this meeting is to talk about the report,
03:40largely that Mario Draghi put out. The big question that he stated in this report was,
03:44if we talk about an independent Europe, what does that mean? It means it's a Europe that can protect
03:49itself with a strong economy and can set out its own policy. To do that,
03:53he said there is an investment gap of around 800 billion euros a year. The question is,
03:58how do you pay it? He talked about private and public money. But the question of the funding
04:02and the financing to that extent is inevitable. The value of this meeting is a sequence that
04:07it will kickstart. It will go into March, I'm pretty sure. And by the summer, something's got to give.
04:11Indeed. Maria, thank you so much for that. And of course, for more on that retreat,
04:17we'll have a live blog running all day on Euronews. Maria will be there on location
04:20with a number of other Euronews reporters. But now, while everyone here in Brussels may
04:25have heard of Mario Draghi and he may be highly respected and regarded here,
04:29not everyone remembers exactly why he's so famous. Here's Jakub Janis with a quick refresher.
04:36Meet Super Mario, a former Italian prime minister, ex-head of the European Central Bank,
04:43and a man currently spinning the threads of Europe's fate. You don't believe me? Just listen to that.
04:49We remain merely a large market, subject to the priorities of others? Or do we take the steps
04:56necessary to become one power? So why is this retired banker suddenly the most important
05:03money in Europe? Level one. During the 2012 financial crisis, he famously promised to do
05:10whatever it takes to save the euro. And his policies save the currency you're using now every day.
05:16But the price was high. He was the face of austerity. And if you are from Southern Europe,
05:23you know exactly the meaning behind cuts, unemployment, and a legendary battle with his nemesis,
05:29Greek minister Janis Varoufakis. And Varoufakis wanted to end the belt tightening measures. But our
05:36Mario simply pulled the plug on Greek banks to force a deal. Level two. Fast forward to 2026,
05:45the EU is losing the competitiveness game against the US and China. But Mario's new power-up is called
05:52pragmatic federalism? Or in translation, to speed Europe. So if 27 EU members cannot agree,
06:01the willing ones should run ahead, united by common borrowing to fund defense and tech.
06:07And just like in a video game, our Mario is arriving today at a real castle, Alden Basin,
06:14in Belgium. And he is on a mission to convince 27 leaders to share the credit card bill. But here
06:22is
06:22the glitch. Our Mario can write the cheat codes, but he's not the one holding the controller. The European
06:28leaders are. And remember, in a video game, if you lose, you just press restart. But in the real
06:36economy, there is no such a button. So will he do whatever it takes to save the princess? We are
06:43about
06:43to find out.
06:49Yeah, I could be honest there on how Mario Draghi may be a superhero to some, but to others, he
06:53is
06:53a man of the banks and a technocrat. For another view coming up, we will be joined by The Economist
06:58and author Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's former finance minister, who had many moments with Mario Draghi
07:04while he was in office 10 years ago. Today, Yanis Varoufakis leads a left-wing pan-European political
07:10party that he co-founded back in 2016 called Democracy in Europe Movement. Good morning,
07:16Mr. Varoufakis. Thank you so much for joining us. Look, this retreat is happening today,
07:21and the European Union needs new momentum to bolster competitiveness. How?
07:29Exactly. In the opposite direction of the one that they are traveling along. I'm afraid that,
07:35yet again, we have a summit where our great and good European leaders spectacularly fail to talk
07:41about the one thing they should be talking about. You heard all this discussion about euro bonds. It's
07:46another word for Europe borrowing money, which is something that I have been advocating now for decades.
07:51But when reasonable people have a discussion about issuing debt, shouldn't the first question be,
08:00who on earth is going to be issuing the debt? Because, you know, we don't have a federal government
08:04in Europe. We have federal money. And this is our tragedy. We have a great central bank, a monolith of
08:11a central bank. And we have, you know, 20 treasuries that can't really rely on it. And at the same
08:18time,
08:18we don't have a treasury at the federal level looking after or supporting the role of the central
08:24bank. It is such a terrible design. And nobody's discussing the basic question that oozes out of
08:32Mario Draghi's report and out of what some of us have been saying now for decades. And it is this.
08:36Have you read the Mario Draghi report? Are we going to federate or not? Are we going to federate or
08:40not?
08:40That is the question. Because if they do not federate, they can't really seriously talk about
08:45euro bonds, which is, you know, federal debt. And have you read the Mario Draghi report, the 400 pages?
08:52Of course. And which camp are you in? You're clearly in the camp then who wants
08:56more Europe and not those who want to ditch the rules. Look, I'm putting it very, very simply to my
09:03fellow Europeans. It was a mistake to create federal money without a federation. The result has been
09:10the spectacular drop in investment, the stagnation, which is causing the lack of competitiveness.
09:17So we have two choices. We are at the fork on the road. We can move in the direction of
09:23federation,
09:23or we can disband the Europe. Unfortunately, the third choice is the one that our leaders are making,
09:30that is neither nor. And when you choose neither nor, you end up falling in between two stools.
09:37So are you not in favour then of this idea of the multi-speed Europe that von der Leyen has
09:41been
09:42floating? Could it be the end of the 27 as we know it?
09:46Mrs von der Leyen is proving very adept at coming up with
09:52sort of phrases that sound like a solution when they are simply a manifestation of the failure.
10:02But she's teasing another round of deregulation. The Polish are saying the same. That is the way
10:06the EU is heading inevitably. What is your view on that?
10:10It's great. It's like rearranging deck chairs in the Titanic. You know, maybe they were not arranged
10:16properly. Maybe we need deregulation. But the reason why Europe is stagnating, the reason why
10:21Germany is de-industrialising, the reason why Europe is fragmenting in front of, on the one hand,
10:30the United States and on the other hand, China, is because we haven't had any investment for 20 years.
10:35And we haven't had any investment because we have created the monetary system, the Euro,
10:39which is federal in its monetary structure, but it doesn't have a fiscal and an investment
10:46dimension, pillar, to support it. So it's a very bad design. And unfortunately, our great leaders
10:53are going into a retreat in a castle with a moat. And the only one thing they will discuss is
10:59that
11:00actually the only one thing that they will not discuss is the thing that they should discuss. Do they
11:05want to create a federal treasury and to change the structure of the European Union from a confederacy
11:11that is not working and failing Europe to a federation? That is the question.
11:15Well, that is the big question. That is the big question they're reflecting over today in the
11:19Belgian countryside. But you're clearly not a fan of EU leadership today. But just when it comes to
11:23your leadership, when you were in office, we had an interesting question on social media from a viewer,
11:28which is quite reflective on your time and power, reflecting on the book that Alexis Tsipras wrote,
11:32saying that your proposals were often, quote, unrealistic or delusional. How do you respond,
11:38Mr Varoufakis, to these criticisms today? And how do you assess your own responsibility for the outcomes
11:42of that period?
11:45Ten years ago, I put to Mario Draghi, to Christine Lagarde, to Wolfgang Schäuble, to the European
11:51leadership at the time, a very simple proposition, that either we could continue with socialism for the
11:57bankers, that is printing money for big business, and austerity for the many, which would
12:01cause a deindustrialisation in the end even of Germany, or we would have to move in a direction
12:11that even Mario Draghi is now advocating now, not ten years ago. And they made the wrong choice.
12:19I think I was right in what I was advocating back then.
12:21Okay, Mr Varoufakis, thank you so much for joining us this morning on Europe Today. See you very soon.
12:28Well now, EU leaders are locking heads, of course, on fixing the EU economy, but they're also nervous
12:32about the never-ending war in Ukraine. February 24th will mark four years since the full-scale invasion
12:38of Ukraine by Russia, a date that was rumoured in the media as the day President Zelensky would announce
12:43fresh elections, something he has clarified and rejected. For more, Sasha Vakilina, our Ukraine
12:49correspondent, joins me here on set. So Sasha, President Zelensky said no elections are on the
12:54table. Tell us very sharply, he said there is no intention to announce any elections or in fact
12:59anything political on the 24th. He also said that this is the first time he heard about it was from
13:03the media reports. He did confirm that this issue has been raised numerous times by Ukraine's
13:08partners, specifically by the United States. But he said this is not something that is floated in
13:13Ukraine. Let's take a look at what he said regarding Ukraine's intentions. He said we are ready for
13:19elections. I said it is very simple to do. We'll do it when all the relevant security guarantees are in
13:24place. Make a ceasefire, there will be elections. That's it. It's a matter of security. He also added
13:31that there is no link between the US security guarantees and the elections. But this is another
13:36speculation that we saw in the media reports. He said no, the United States is not threatening to
13:40withdraw or withhold any security guarantees in exchange for the election. And he also said it's
13:45going to be very foolish to use the date of the 24th to make any political statements, Maeve.
13:52And what about the peace talks, Sasha? Any update on the talks?
13:55Well, they are continuing and that's probably the best news and the best result of those peace talks.
14:00The next round is expected to be next week. The format is still to be clarified.
14:05We saw the trilateral talks in Ukraine, Russia and the United States. So this is expected to be the
14:11next format as well. But there's not much hope regarding the result. Now, your new sources
14:16at NATO in Brussels said, for example, that one of the main topics at the meetings this week at NATO,
14:22including the defense minister's meeting on Thursday today, is to have the better visibility
14:27regarding Ukraine Pearl program and to have the visibility from six months to up to one year.
14:32Yeah, that's your answer about the expectations on the peace talks and the results.
14:35Okay, Sasha Vakilina, thank you so much, as always, for all those updates. And as the clock ticks down
14:40to all those deadlines, the clock is also ticking to a very important date in the EU agenda. That's
14:45the Hungarian elections, just two months to go until Hungary's April election, where incumbent
14:51Prime Minister Viktor Orban is running again. Viktor Orban has repeatedly clashed with EU counterparts
14:57on migration and the war in Ukraine. And this campaign is no different. Viktor Orban is planning
15:02a visit to see Mr. Trump, President Trump next week for the Board of Peace event. But meanwhile, back
15:08home, the campaign is getting heated. For more on this election. And who else is running? We're joined
15:13now by Sander Girosh, our Hungarian correspondent. Good morning. So this election is getting quite heated.
15:19Tell us more. And who's running? Well, surprisingly, the opposition party TISA, which is led by Peter
15:25Magyar, is leading in the polls with seven to 10% ahead of Viktor Orban's Fidesz party. And this is
15:32unprecedented, because Viktor Orban was in power since 15 years, and his winning elections was never
15:39in question. But now we have a very, very strong and very aggressive opposition party. Nevertheless,
15:45that doesn't mean that the race is done. Fidesz can win. TISA can win. There is a large amount of
15:51undecided voters. And you know, the campaign is heating up. TISA party released this election
15:56manifesto, which is full of promises related to the cost of the living crisis and inflation.
16:02They promised tax cuts, they promised family benefits, pension rights, and also Viktor Orban continues
16:10to highlight his foreign policy agenda, namely targeting Ukraine. And he went on with a very
16:17aggressive wording over the weekend. Let's maybe take a look of what he said.
16:22Ukraine is damaging our elementary interest by constantly demanding and inciting Brussels to do
16:28so, that Hungary be cut off from cheap Russian energy. Anyone who does this is not an opponent of
16:34Hungary but an enemy. Viktor Orban there. And Peter Maier, who's leading the polls, has said,
16:39quote, the governing party Fidesz could release a compromising video to discredit Viktor Orban,
16:44or to discredit him. What exactly does that mean, Sander? And what does it say about the campaign?
16:49Well, Peter Maier said that there is a secretly recorded sex tape with him and his former girlfriend,
16:56that the government forces are using to blackmail him. And here I have to quote Peter Maier,
17:03because he said that, I suspect that they are planning to release a secret service recorded and
17:08possibly doctored recording of me and my then girlfriend having an intimate encounter. There is
17:16also a picture circulating online showing an empty room with a bed. This might be possibly related to this
17:22sex tape, but we don't know anything about this sex tape. This has not been released, we just see this
17:28picture. We don't know if this is a media hack or not. But this tells one thing that this Hungarian
17:35electoral campaign is so special, it's so aggressive, it's going to be full of personal attacks, it's going
17:42to be full of, you know, full of hate and videos. And in the coming months, we will see more
17:51and more of this.
17:52And then Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also said that in the last phase of the election, in the last days
17:59of the electoral campaigns, they will have released something on the opposition, so they will have
18:05some munition against the opposition that they are willing to use.
18:10So we should expect a lot of dirty laundry to surface in the next couple of weeks and months into
18:14that
18:15election. Thank you so much for that update. Sian Lorgiris there, our Hungarian correspondent.
18:20And of course, for more on the EU leaders retreat taking place today, you can follow our live blog on
18:25Euronews. And by the way, if you're interested in the topic of managing migration, you can watch a very fiery
18:32debate from Strasbourg on The Ring. But that does bring this edition of Europe Today to an end. Thank you
18:37so much,
18:38as always, for your company. Any comments, points for us, do reach out to us, either on social media,
18:43or you can drop us an email, europetoday at euronews.com. That is our email address. Take care,
18:47though, and see you very soon right here on Euronews.
Comments