MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Sarkozy/Merkel promise package to solve Euro crisis…for the end of October

The two leaders “conscious of their particular responsibility for stabilizing the Euro”

The leaders of Germany and France promised to unveil a new comprehensive package for solving the Euro zone's debt crisis by the end of the month, but offered no details and papered over differences on how to shore up European banks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after Sunday talks in Berlin their goal was to come up with a sustainable answer for Greece's woes, agree how to recapitalize banks and present a plan for accelerating economic coordination in the Euro zone by a G20 summit in Cannes on November 3-4.

“We are very conscious that France and Germany have a particular responsibility for stabilizing the Euro,” Sarkozy told a joint news conference.

“We need to deliver a response that is sustainable and comprehensive. We have decided to provide this response by the end of the month because Europe must solve its problems by the G20 summit in Cannes.”

Sarkozy will host the Cannes summit and is keen to deliver a big success that might bolster his flagging chances of winning re-election in a presidential vote next year.

But even if the two leaders can agree on a way forward, the experience of the past two years has shown that they could struggle to get the other 15 countries in the Euro zone on board in a timely fashion.
When pressed by reporters, both leaders refused repeatedly to discuss details of their plan. Sarkozy said he and Merkel were in “total agreement” on the recapitalization of European banks, even though officials in Paris and Berlin have made clear in recent days that the countries are far apart.

The two Euro zone heavyweights have come under pressure worldwide to resolve a crisis which is roiling markets.