BERLIN (MNI) – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble wants to
convince the newly elected French president, Francois Hollande, to
abandon his demand for a renegotiation of the EU fiscal compact.
In an interview with German ARD public television aired late
Monday, Schaeuble said it makes no sense to renegotiate the pact every
time a government changes in an EU member state. “And that is why I
think we will also convince the new French president [and] the new
French government of this,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker told German ZDF
public television late Monday that he has told Hollande in a phone
conversation that there will be no renegotiations of the fiscal compact.
“I have told him that some things simply won’t work,” said Juncker, who
is Prime Minister of Luxembourg.
Still, Juncker said Hollande’s demand for more growth stimulus in
Europe is correct. Austerity measures alone would not solve the European
debt crisis, Juncker said. He said he would discuss this with Hollande
at a meeting on Thursday in Paris.
–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com
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