BERLIN (MNI) – Germany and France on Monday reaffirmed their
commitment to keeping Greece in the Eurozone.
“We want Greece to remain in the Eurozone,” German Finance Minister
Wolfgang Schaeuble and his new French colleague Pierre Moscovici said at
a joint press conference after their first meeting. Both stressed that
Greece needed to stick to the consolidation and reform path agreed with
the EU and the IMF.
Moscovici said he and Schaeuble had discussed the possibility of
introducing Eurobonds in the Eurozone to fight the debt crisis. “Each of
us reaffirmed his position,” the French minister said.
Germany opposes Eurobonds while France favors the instrument.
French President Francois Hollande will bring up the topic of
Eurobonds again at the EU summit on Wednesday, Moscovici said.
Moscovici denied German media reports that Hollande opposes the
candidacy of Schaeuble for becoming the next chairman of the Eurogroup.
The Eurogroup job has to be decided together with the other top slots to
be filled in the EU currently, Moscovici said.
Moscovici and Schaeuble stressed that they aim for a close working
relationship despite coming from opposite political camps. They noted
that the German-Franco relationship had always been close regardless of
which party was governing in their respective countries.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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