By Hugo Duncan
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Germany was last night on collision course with France, Italy and Spain as hopes faded that the latest summit of European leaders will solve the single currency crisis.
Angela Merkel brushed aside increasingly shrill calls for quick fixes for the eurozone on the eve of the two-day meeting in Brussels.
The Chancellor shut the door on commonly issued eurobonds and other ‘fake solutions’ â€" insisting that Germany will not write blank cheques to prop up troubled countries without a say over national budgets and banking systems.
Tight lipped: Angela Merkel has brushed aside increasingly shrill calls for quick fixes for the eurozone
Merkel, who on Wednesday said she did not expect to see full debt sharing in her lifetime, said issuing eurobonds to bring down borrowing costs in Spain and beyond was the ‘wrong way’ to solve the crisis.
Her comments came just three hours after Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy warned the country cannot afford to fund itself for long because of dangerously high borrowing costs.
‘There are institutions and also financial entities that cannot access the markets. It is happening in Spain, it is happening in Italy and it is happening in other countries,’ he said.
Spain became the fourth eurozone country to beg for a bailout when it asked for up to £80bn to rescue its broken banks. It was immediately followed by a cry for help from Cyprus.
Merkel’s hard-line is likely to anger Francois Hollande, the new socialist president in France, who has openly challenged Berlin to move away from austerity, promote growth and stand behind eurozone debt.
Portugal’s prime minister Pedro Passos poured cold water on any dwindling hopes that a solution will be found.
‘There are no reasons to create expectations that are too high of the results of the European Council,’ he said. ‘We should be realistic about this meeting.’
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Willl somebody please please finish off the euro
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Henry, please stop shouting by using capital letters. You sound like a mad soapbox ranter and are giving me a headache.
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Cameron's off to yet another EU 'summit' (Code word for a jolly up in a luxury hotel at tax payer expense) with a cheque for further £5billion (paid for by you and me in higher taxes, probably on petrol but we'll have to wait and see) to cover a back door bail out and contribute towards Brussels 'expenses' (Well these 'summits' are pricey you know). Don't worry though, I expect he took off his jacket, rolled up his shirt sleeves and though very hard before making this difficult decision, with the best interests of the UK public at heart of course. If we behave ourselves he may even consider allowing us to have a 'referendum', but not until after 2014 and full implementation of the Lisbon 'treaty'. After all, he can't have us coming out of the EU, how on earth would they cover the cost of their 'summits'.
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No wonder she's glum,there's a fair chance that what she'd really like is not to keep Greece in the Eurozone but to get Germany out.
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the longer this goes on the more it will cost, it should have been nipped in the bud 15 years ago.
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Just admit it love, it's oveeeeeeeeeer, hahahahaaha!
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Merkel, who on Wednesday said she did not expect to see full debt sharing in her lifetime, Well how 'old' is SHE then?.NO ONE EVER WANTS TO SEE DEBT SHARING! do you?.Leave people/SLAVES and other countries alone I'm sure they DO NOT want to be called Europeans losing their identity,traditions,give them back their FREEDOM and their OWN individual countries,currency.THEY don't want Mickey's monopoly money anymore! ASK THEM THE PEOPLE.No i didn't think so.The continentals were doing alright before this SCAM,funny that.What a terrible photo! I could take a better one.
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Give us all a break and admit the Euro is finished and is going no where, how much longer do we all need exposure to this farce
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