Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
ANGELA MERKEL and Nicolas Sarkozy are to meet in Paris today to discuss potential EU treaty changes to increase fiscal coordination across the eurozone.
The two are also expected to discuss more significant intervention by the ECB in the EU’s ongoing debt crisis, and have indicated they will outline their proposals at the EU leaders’ summit this Friday.
Sarzkozy said last week that he would push for EU Treaty changes to “rethink the organisation of Europe”, and warned that if the summit talks to support the euro fail, “the world will not wait for Europe”.
Speaking to her national parliament late last week, Merkel said this week’s EU summit would focus on “treaty changes to avoid splitting the European Union”, adding: “We need budget discipline and effective crisis management mechanism. So we need to change the treaties or create new treaties.”
In his address to the nation last night, Enda Kenny said that the Irish government supports moves towards stronger governance across the eurozone to protect the single currency.
Over the weekend, the Telegraph published an interview with former European Commission president and euro ‘architect’ Jacques Delors, who said that the single currency had been flawed from the start. He said concerns over the euro’s potential weaknesses had been voiced early on, but that they were ultimately exposed when the global credit crunch struck.
Delors said he believed the currency could still be saved, but only if moves were made quickly to “put out the fire” and regain market confidence.
Meanwhile, the US treasury secretary Timothy Geithner is to meet with ECB chief Mario Draghi as well as Sarkozy, Germany’s finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble and the new Italian PM Mario Monti during his trip to the EU this week. According to the Treasury, the meetings will focus on efforts within the EU to “reinforce the institutions of the euro area”.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
What bothers me is why other EU leaders are not also meeting and hammering out other proposals? Or are France and Germany going to be left to run the show without any input from anyone else??
Nothing stopping Enda or any other leader calling the others and arranging to meet, but there seems to be a distinct lack of such proactivity.
So Merkel and Sarkozy meet today. Come up with a plan and then on Friday tell the other 15 countries involved in the Euro what they are meant to agree to. So much for democracy.
Spot on Kerry, but then we already knew the meaning of European democracy when we had to vote twice on Lisbon, cos u know we voted *wrong* the first time.
Why are we letting our strings being pulled ? View what Iceland has done and gone from a broken country to strength to strength. Although they retained their own currency, something which should have been considered here and find our floating exchange point to regain some economic and financial stability.
This song came to mind, you may need to change a few words, but the cities are correct !
If only people asked themselves who Geithner is, they might realize the institution they want to hand the keys over to is buddies with a goldman sachs financial terrorist.
He got drunk at a bar and told everyone there that the dollar was as good as gone. Thats the guy they are taking advice from. Everyone in europe is going to be milked dry from people who should be in jail already.
Enda is a hypocrite for negotiating with them, treat them like the cartels they are.
Geitner loves bailouts, his chief of staff is from goldman sachs.
youtube.com/watch?v=NRxYAojB_kQ
War on the horizon?
Scary thought.
I’m moving to Germany, at least that way I get to vote who is running the country.
“In his address to the nation last night, Enda Kenny said that the Irish government supports moves towards stronger governance across the eurozone to protect the single currency.”
So more scaremongering from Enda then to try and pass this pending treaty, whatever the details may be of it. And if the public reject it, sure – he can always run a second referendum.
What we must go through in this country in years to come is total hardship & all we can do is stop it from happening again. Whatever treaty/referendum is put before the people reject it out right. Send a message to the political classes that we will not accept anymore of their lies. If we dont do this we have nothing to complain about. All politicians will lie so send a strong message & stand up for this country & only this country.
have your say