German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Standard & Poor’s downgrade warning for 15 Euro- area governments will spur European leaders to double efforts to resolve the debt crisis at the Dec. 8-9 summit.
Germany and France stepped up a drive on Monday for intrusive powers to reject national budgets in the Euro zone that breach EU rules, as a market rout of European debt eased temporarily on hopes of outside help for Italy and Spain.
Germany and France again on Wednesday over whether the European Central Bank should take bolder steps to stem the Euro zone debt crisis, with Chancellor Angela Merkel issuing one of her starkest warnings yet against fiddling with the central bank's strict inflation-fighting mandate.
The leaders of Britain and Germany David Cameron and Angela Merkel acknowledged differences over the Euro zone crisis but stressed they have the same plan for European growth. The prime minister met the German chancellor on Friday in Berlin to discuss the Euro zone crisis, and Iran and Syria.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated Thursday her opposition to a greater role for the European Central Bank in helping to solve the Euro zone debt crisis, saying political action was required.
Moody’s ratings agency decided on Thursday to surprisingly downgrade the rating of ten German public-sector banks. This is the first time Europe’s largest economy in the region, which keeps the Euro zone afloat, is hit.
As technocrats leaders in Italy and Greece rush to form governments as they sought to limit the damage from the Euro zone debt crisis – and the Euro climbed on relief that a key Italian bond auction drew decent demand from investors – German chancellor Angela Merkel stepped up to defend Europe’s common currency.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected Thursday the idea that her government might favor a smaller Euro zone, saying her only goal since the beginning of the debt crisis has been to stabilise the bloc in its current form.
The package of measures agreed by European leaders this month to stem their debt crisis will only work “if all elements are implemented”, German Deputy Finance Minister Joerg Asmussen said in an interview Monday.
The German highest court suspended Friday a parliamentary committee's right to approve urgent actions by the Euro zone's bailout fund, potentially delaying decision-making in Europe's top economy on key moves to tackle the bloc's crisis