In a government statement on the G8 summit and the pending European Council meeting, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that growth and fiscal consolidation were "by no means contradictory". Germany has demonstrated over the last four years that they can go hand in hand.
Further structural changes in Member States and coordination of the policies of individual states are essential preconditions for growth in the European Union, she said. She will be working within the European Council to ensure that recommendations made by the European Commission to member states are acted on. She praised the reforms already undertaken in many EU states where the new policies are now beginning to bear fruit.
To achieve long-term economic growth, Europeans must achieve a common understanding of growth policy. This will have to be discussed by the heads of state and government at their next meeting. Only when an understanding of this sort has been achieved and coordinated economic policy agreed, is a solidarity fund for the eurozone conceivable, said Angela Merkel. The pertinent agreements would have to be approved by the national parliaments of member states.
She called for an agreement to be reached on the EU’s multiannual financial framework. This is urgent, so as not to lose any more jobs within the EU.
Angela Merkel praised the agreement now reached on a banking union as a precondition for restoring confidence in banks.
Full statement
© The Press and Information Office of the Federal Government
Key
Hover over the blue highlighted
text to view the acronym meaning
Hover
over these icons for more information
Comments:
No Comments for this Article