EU must be more decisive to protect euro: Spain, France
August 31st, 2012 - 11:36 am ICT by IANSMadrid, Aug 31 (IANS/EFE) Financial markets’ doubts about the strength of the euro can be blamed on a lack of decisive action by the European Union, French President François Hollande said here Thursday after talks with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
“We have put off decisions too much and that has provoked doubts,” the French leader said at a joint press conference with his host.
The picture will become clearer after the EU summit in October, Hollande said.
The gathering of the heads of government of the 27-member bloc will follow a Sep 6 meeting of the governors of the European Central Bank and a Sep 12 ruling by the German Constitutional Court on the legality of Berlin’s planned participation in a permanent EU bailout fund, the French president noted.
A report on the condition of Spanish banks - who are to receive up to 100 billion euros ($123.2 billion) in aid from Madrid’s eurogroup partners - is also due in September, Hollande said.
Both leaders stressed that the adoption of the euro was irreversible.
“Neither the euro, nor the single market, nor the EU will take one step backwards,” Rajoy said.
Spain has made “great sacrifices” to reduce its deficit, but the spread between Spanish bonds and benchmark German bonds remains wide, Hollande pointed out, while Rajoy said Madrid will wait to see what the ECB will do to reduce the spread before deciding on whether to seek a broader aid package from the EU.
The prime minister denounced as “malicious” rumours circulating in Spain that his government is putting off asking the EU for more help until after regional elections in October.
The Spanish political class is looking toward those elections, in Galicia and the Basque region, as indicators of the degree of public discontent with tough austerity measures enacted by Rajoy’s conservative administration since taking office last December.
–IANS/EFE
rd
- Yield on Spanish bonds climbs up - Jul 10, 2012
- EU needs fiscal, bank integration: Spanish PM - Jun 06, 2012
- Markets continue to hammer Spanish debt - Jul 24, 2012
- Spanish PM says he's focused on euro, Spain's interests - Sep 03, 2012
- Markets hammer Spanish bonds - Aug 03, 2011
- No more cuts coming, says Spanish minister - Aug 06, 2012
- Spain's risk premium hits euro-era record - Jul 20, 2012
- Spanish royals cut their own pay - Jul 18, 2012
- Spanish banks' bad-loans ratio hits new record - Aug 18, 2012
- Spain to trim another $80 bn with new austerity measures - Jul 12, 2012
- Spanish budget deficit falls - Dec 21, 2011
- Spain faces recession, growing unemployment in 2012 - Mar 03, 2012
- Spanish debt auction attracts strong demand - Jan 13, 2012
- Spanish, Chinese firms sign deals valued at $626 mn - May 25, 2012
- EC approves Spanish bank recapitalization programme - Jul 26, 2012
Tags: austerity measures, bailout, basque region, conservative administration, decisive action, ecb, financial markets, francois hollande, french leader, french president, galicia, german bonds, german constitutional court, heads of government, malicious rumours, public discontent, regional elections, single market, spanish banks, spanish prime minister