BRUSSELS (MNI) – The European Union needs to address the problem of
abusive short-selling but actions would be more effective if coordinated
at the European level, the European Commission said on Thursday.
Germany late Tuesday announced a ban on some short-selling of
Eurozone government debt and shares of major German financial companies,
which pressured the euro and sent stock markets across Europe tumbling.
A Commission spokesperson said that both Commission President Jose
Manuel Barroso and Internal Markets Commissioner Michel Barnier “both
expressed understanding of the German position and President Barroso
underlined that we need to address the problem of abusive short
selling.”
The spokesperson said that the placement of bans is a national
issue but that “coordinated at European level would reinforce the action
taken nationally.”
European Commission spokesman for Economic and Monetary Affairs
Amadeu Tardio said that all the actions taken by the Commission and the
other European authorities had been taken to ensure financial stability
“and to back effectively the euro.”
“Since the early stages of this crisis… we already said that this
was not only about one country, this was about the financial stability
of the Euroarea as a whole,” Tardio told reporters.
In terms of fiscal consolidation plans, he said: “Clearly this is
not an exercise where one size fits all, every member state has to be
considered (separately).”
–Brussels: 0032 487 (0) 32 803 665, echarlton@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MT$$$$,M$$FX$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
