Tag: eurobonds

The informal “summit for growth” to take place today will discuss several controversial options for injecting confidence into financial markets, including a call for Eurobonds that is likely to divide member states.

French President François Hollande said he would promote the idea of mutualised European debt at an informal summit in Brussels this week, increasing pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to drop her opposition to the proposal.

The European Commission tabled a raft of new proposals yesterday (23 November) aimed at drawing a line under the eurozone debt crisis by granting Brussels sweeping new powers to scrutinise national budgets and, in extreme cases, "administer" countries struggling with uncontrollable debt levels.

Commission President José Manuel Barroso announced yesterday (16 November) in the European Parliament that his office would table next Wednesday a  proposal on ‘stability bonds’, which are otherwise known as eurobonds.

The leaders of the four largest groups in the European Parliament have strongly backed a plan by Commission President José Manuel Barroso to deal with the eurozone crisis, strengthening his position ahead of a crunch EU summit later this month.

Despite growing calls to introduce Eurobonds as a way out of the euro zone's debt crisis, August 2011 might well be remembered as the month during which the idea of Eurobonds was murdered by the Italian political system, argues Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policie Studies (CEPS).

Instead of worrying about difficult medium to long-term issues like Eurobonds and a fiscal union, the euro zone's leaders should focus on the immediate problems of recapitalising its banks, giving Greece breathing space and restarting economic growth, argues Barry Eichengreen.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel successfully stood up to pressure from southern Europe and there will be no Eurobonds. This is a disappointment for markets, but for indebted countries the only way to rebuild is to patiently pursue policies of debt discipline and an end to lax budget constraints, argues Hans-Werner Sinn.

As the debate on whether the EU should introduce eurobonds to solve the debt crisis sharpens, economists in Berlin argue that pooling Europe's debt would spell disaster for Germany and the euro. EurActiv.de reports.

France and Germany's leaders face a stark choice in talks today (16 August) over whether to steer the embattled euro zone towards closer monetary union or risk watching the bloc unravel.

A new Brussels-based tax- and debt-raising authority – based on a Commission DG, with strong EU Council and Parliament supervision – is likely to emerge from the financial crisis, a key UK economics guru has told EurActiv.

EU Economics Commission Olli Rehn announced yesterday (22 June) in the European Parliament that Brussels was planning to present a report on Eurobonds which could be accompanied "by legislative proposals" on common eurozone securities. The move is seen as a tactical step to win the Parliament's support for other economic governance dossiers.

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso pledged yesterday (14 December) he would "insist" on tabling plans to introduce EU project bonds to fund infrastructure in Europe, as an alternative to the controversial idea of eurobonds.

Eurozone finance ministers took no extra action to quell the debt crisis at a meeting yesterday (6 December) and said they believed the existing EU debt crisis fund had enough resources to weather the threat of contagion.