| Author (Person) | Peel, Quentin |
|---|---|
| Series Title | Financial Times |
| Series Details | 8.12.11 |
| Publication Date | 08/12/2011 |
| Content Type | News |
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Features discuss the immediate lead-up to the crucial European Council summit, Brussels, 8-9 December 2011 which was to attempt to agree a comprehensive solution to the eurozone debt crisis. Germany and France urged EU partners to take immediate action to contain the region's debt crisis amid signs of divisions over the measures needed. Germany insisted on the 7 December 2011 that its European partners must undertake the politically fraught process of changing European Union treaties, or at least accepting a binding new eurozone accord, to bring stability to the single currency and restore the confidence of investors. However, Herman Van Rompuy, European Council President, insisted on the same day that tougher fiscal discipline could be enforced without a full-blown treaty overhaul. According to a senior EU official, José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission President, called every EU leader ahead of the summit to warn them that if they agreed to change the treaties, they had better be prepared to deal with the consequences. The summit was likely to expose fundamental fault-lines that had been papered over for years within the eurozone countries and the other EU Member States. For example, EUObserver reported that Finland on the 8 December 2011 objected to a Franco-German plan to make decisions on using the eurozone bail-out fund easier (bu using majority voting), saying it was an 'alarming' move. |
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| Subject Categories | Economic and Financial Affairs, Law, Politics and International Relations |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, Finland, France, Germany |
