FRANKFURT (MNI) – Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble
Thursday rejected complaints from members of the ruling coalition that
they were not being given an opportunity to discuss the issues
surrounding the planned expansion of the European Financial Stability
Facility.
“The criticism is unjustified,” Schaeuble said at a forum hosted by
German weekly Die Zeit.
Schaeuble also described as “utter nonsense” reports circulated by
Handelsblatt on Wednesday that the Bundestag would be prepared to cede
“general powers” over rescue measures to the EFSF.
According to the Handelsblatt report, Schaeuble will call on the
Bundestag to delegate authority over future use of the fund’s new
instruments. The German Bundestag would only get to approve the basic
agreement for the EFSF’s new framework.
On July 21, Eurozone leaders decided to grant the fund new powers,
including the right to recapitalize banks, buy bonds of member states in
the secondary market and offer credit lines pre-emptively to countries
not under a bailout plan.
Schaeuble also said the EFSF needed to be ratified quickly so that
it could be used to buy bonds on the secondary market. “The EFSF needs
to be urgently empowered so that it can act on the secondary market,” he
said.
He described the EFSF’s current size of E440 billion as quite
sufficient for its purpose.
Schaeuble also categorically rejected recent comments by former
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who said the euro “is
breaking down.” That assertion is “incorrect,” Schaeuble said.
On future integration of European member states, Schaeuble said
economic integration came first but needed to be followed by political
integration.
“What is good for Greece is good for Germany,” he added.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49 69 720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: MFX$$$,M$X$$$,MGX$$$,M$XD$$,M$$EC$,M$XDS$]
