2016-07-28www.politico.eu

By the time the so-called College of Commissioners gathered mid-morning on Wednesday, the sentiment in the room had shifted away from coming down on Spain and Portugal. "That is having an impact," a source in the room wrote during the deliberations, referring to Schäuble's intervention.

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Officials pointed to various political reasons for Schäuble's move. Primarily, the de facto number two in Germany's government doesn't want to hurt an ally in Mariano Rajoy, the center-right Spanish leader who is struggling to put together a government after last month's elections. With France and Italy in the hands of the Left, Germany's CDU-led coalition prefers to see a fellow conservative take power in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy. During his conversations at the G20 in China, Schäuble stressed the need for "political stability" in southwestern Europe, according to someone familiar with the conversation. Portugal's leftist government got a free ride on the Schäuble train.



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