Depth of euro crisis may push bailout down agenda

ANALYSIS: Fixing the currency’s problems will be a very complex task, with many conflicting interests. Giving Ireland a better deal might not be a shared priority, writes DAN O'BRIEN

THE TERMS of Ireland’s engagement with the European Union could conceivably change as much in the coming weeks and months as they have since the State hitched its wagon to the European integration train almost 40 years ago. If this happens it will do so in the context of the continuing talks to redesign the euro’s institutional architecture.

ECB, EU Visit Portugal Under Measures Agreed on Debt Crisis

European Central Bank and European Commission officials are visiting Portugal as part of measures agreed earlier this month to fight the debt crisis.

The visit is in accordance with a Feb. 4 statement by the heads of state and government of the euro area and European Union institutions, said an official at Portugal’s Finance Ministry in Lisbon, declining to provide further information.

European leaders said in the statement they had agreed steps including “assessment by the commission, in liaison with the ECB, of progress made in euro area member states in the implementation of measures taken to strengthen fiscal positions and growth prospects.”

G-20 Reach Compromise Deal On Imbalances

The world's dominant economies have reached a compromise deal on how to track imbalances in the global economy that have been blamed for exacerbating the financial crisis, French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said Saturday.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 rich and developing countries managed to get China to agree on a list of yardsticks for imbalances, by softening the criteria for measuring current account surpluses.

ECB Emergency Lending Shows Crisis Not Over

By Simon Nixon

The news that emergency lending by the European Central Bank skyrocketed this week to its highest level in 19 months is an alarming reminder that the euro crisis is far from over. In my Agenda column in the European edition of the WSJ this week I cautioned that amid all the optimism at the prospects of a European “Grand Bargain”, there will be no end to the crisis unless E.U. leasers find a way to restore confidence in the banking system too. That means action on both bank solvency and liquidity.

EU’s Barroso Calls Permanent Debt-Crisis Plan ‘Indispensable’

European Commission President Jose Barroso called the euro area’s plan to create a permanent debt- crisis mechanism “indispensable” for financial stability in Europe.

He commented after the commission, the European Union’s executive arm, issued a favorable opinion of the decision by EU government leaders in December to amend the bloc’s treaty to establish a European Stability Mechanism in 2013 for countries that share the euro.