In an upcoming EU summit Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy will propose a plan to make the most of 80 billion unallocated euros in order to stoke growth. Merkel has said that this does not sound like a bad idea and that the money could be allocated to programs that employ young workers, research and innovation. This would be positive because leaders could scrutinize spending of communal funds, often employed in line with antiquated priorities, and funds that now have to be exploited to their fullest potential.
Further, the plan could reduce the size of a bureaucracy, and in some cases it could improve financing opportunities considering that it entails plans that would necessarily be co-financed by respective member states. Still, Rajoy's plan is not a full solution. For one, it involves funds that are will not be available until 2013.
That is to say, there aren't many euros to spare right now. After all, Merkel is giving her consent because it will not involve any extra costs. On the one hand, the funds are already destined to infrastructure, recycling and R&D projects. The aid will have to be assigned country by country as soon as possible, because the typical procedure is to delay the allocation of aid until countries end up asking for two years of extensions when they see what ground has been lost.
We cannot wait until 2015. In Spain's case, many times the main issue is coordinating regional governments. Honestly, it looks like we are taking grandpa's dusty rifle off the shelf knowing good and well that it cannot kill something as big as an elephant -- like the euro crisis.
