BRUSSELS: The European Parliament will press top officials face to face next week for firmer action to tackle the region's debt crisis, with common bonds and a stronger euro zone rescue fund likely to anchor the debate.
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will be questioned on Aug. 29 alongside Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker and Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, in an extraordinary session of parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee.
"It's going to be a pretty free-ranging and open debate but we also need to get down to some hard specifics," Sharon Bowles, the chairwoman of the committee, who will lead the debate, told Reuters in an interview.
"The situation has got worse over the summer because the markets wouldn't wait while euro zone governments went on holiday, so the whole solution is now more expensive than it was and is more complicated."
While the European Parliament has no power to compel Trichet, Juncker or Rehn to take action, it has at times acted as a conscience for the euro zone during the crisis, calling ahead of time for leaders to take steps that later have either been explored or implemented.
The Parliament is a strong proponent of euro area bonds -- the idea of euro-denominated debt jointly issued and underwritten by all 17 euro zone member states to enable sovereign risk to be shared out across the whole region.
If implemented, such a move, which is strongly opposed by Germany, would have the effect of raising Germany's cost of funding in order to bring down the cost for higher-risk states such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her opposition to the idea on Wednesday, saying it would not help in the current crisis and could only be entertained once there was already much greater fiscal coordination across the region.
"It is politically irresponsible to succumb to the longings for a quick fix," she said. "I reject euro bonds because they are not a solution for this crisis."
Bowles, a former patent lawyer elected to the European Parliament in 2005, acknowledged that while the idea is broadly backed by euro deputies, there are differences of opinion about how it could be implemented and structured.
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will be questioned on Aug. 29 alongside Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker and Olli Rehn, the European commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, in an extraordinary session of parliament's economic and monetary affairs committee.
"It's going to be a pretty free-ranging and open debate but we also need to get down to some hard specifics," Sharon Bowles, the chairwoman of the committee, who will lead the debate, told Reuters in an interview.
"The situation has got worse over the summer because the markets wouldn't wait while euro zone governments went on holiday, so the whole solution is now more expensive than it was and is more complicated."
While the European Parliament has no power to compel Trichet, Juncker or Rehn to take action, it has at times acted as a conscience for the euro zone during the crisis, calling ahead of time for leaders to take steps that later have either been explored or implemented.
The Parliament is a strong proponent of euro area bonds -- the idea of euro-denominated debt jointly issued and underwritten by all 17 euro zone member states to enable sovereign risk to be shared out across the whole region.
If implemented, such a move, which is strongly opposed by Germany, would have the effect of raising Germany's cost of funding in order to bring down the cost for higher-risk states such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her opposition to the idea on Wednesday, saying it would not help in the current crisis and could only be entertained once there was already much greater fiscal coordination across the region.
"It is politically irresponsible to succumb to the longings for a quick fix," she said. "I reject euro bonds because they are not a solution for this crisis."
Bowles, a former patent lawyer elected to the European Parliament in 2005, acknowledged that while the idea is broadly backed by euro deputies, there are differences of opinion about how it could be implemented and structured.
Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com
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