BRUSSELS (MNI) – EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on
Wednesday urged Eurozone leaders to honour the agreement they struck
last June to allow the European Stability Mechanism to directly
recapitalize struggling banks.
Speaking after a meeting with Enda Kenny, the Irish Taoiseach,
Barroso said he would urge leaders to stick to the commitments made at
their last council meeting in June. “It is a question of credibility for
the EU and for all the member states that are our Union,” said Barroso.
Germany, Finland and the Netherlands are trying to argue that the
June agreement should apply only to banks that fall into trouble after
the ECB takes over as ultimate supervisor of Eurozone banks, a line that
would leave countries such as Ireland and Spain, that have already
bailed out their banks, or are in the process of doing so, with no
relief from the ESM.
EU officials and other governments maintain that the June agreement
was intended to break the unhealthy dependence of weak banks on weak
sovereigns, and was designed with the idea of retroactively alleviating
the burden of countries such as Ireland and Spain.
–Brussels Newsroom, +324-952-28374; pkoh@mni-news.com
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