BERLIN (MNI) – EU heads of state and government won’t discuss the
problems of the Spanish banking sector or possible EU aid for Spain at
their summit meeting in Brussels Thursday, a senior German government
official said Tuesday.
“I don’t expect that the developments in Spain will be on the
agenda,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He
reminded that Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday had stressed that the
EU fiscal rescue package is ready for use if need be.
“We believe that the Spanish government will do everything to get
the situation under control and we do not doubt that it will do so
successfully,” the source asserted.
The official said that Monday’s telephone conference of G7 finance
ministers was not called on short notice and was not about Spain.
“I don’t expect any surprises” from Thursday’s EU summit, he said.
The subject of a possible European ban on uncovered short-selling
is also unlikely to be discussed at the summit, he said. The official
denied the notion that there was any dissent between Germany and France
on the matter.
He also rejected claims that France had introduced the idea of an
EU economic government in order to curtail the independence of the
European Central Bank.
“In our talks with [French President Nicolas] Sarkozy, he did not
use this in a way aimed to put pressure on the ECB,” the source said.
“It is absolutely clear for us that the independence of the ECB is
not negotiable and we will fend off any attempts” at compromising it, he
stressed.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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