Merkel, Tusk to discuss eurozone debt crisis at Berlin talks

Mon, 06 Dec 2010

Berlin - Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrived in Berlin Monday for talks on the eurozone debt crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Several Polish ministers accompanied Tusk for consultations with their German counterparts.

The talks come ahead a European Union summit next week, at which member states are due to agree on a permanent eurozone rescue mechanism.

Last week EU finance ministers offered Ireland an 85-billion-euro (110-billion-dollar) loan under the temporary rescue mechanism set up following Greece's debt crisis earlier this year.

Speculation remains rife that Portugal or Spain could be the next eurozone states in need of rescue measures.

Merkel is also scheduled to discuss details of the proposed rescue mechanism with Swedish premier Fredrik Reinfeldt and French President Nicolas Sarkozy later this week.

Germany is demanding that creditors pay for at least a share of future rescue schemes, but opposes the use of jointly guaranteed eurobonds, as proposed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

This is the tenth time Germany and Poland engage in joint government consultations.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/356774,debt-crisis-berlin-talks.html.