Monti,Merkel meet in Rome
Italian Premier Mario Monti and
German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Rome later on
Wednesday for talks on how to apply the deal reached at last
week's European Union summit on the eurozone crisis.
Monti is also likely to want to discuss how to overcome any lingering opposition to what was hailed as his key victory at the Brussels summit - the agreement to allow European rescue funds to be used to support the bonds of countries facing soaring borrowing costs.
Merkel dropped her opposition to the bond-support measure after Monti and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy threatened not to back an agreement for a 120-billion-euro package to stoke flagging growth in Europe. The governments of Netherlands and Finland this week raised doubts about the bond-support agreement when they said they were opposed.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Tuesday that the two nations would not be able to veto it.But Merkel said those countries' reservations should be "respected".This has led to speculation the chancellor may be working behind the scenes to use the Netherlands and Finland against the deal.
Monti stressed that last week's agreement should not be considered a victory for him and a defeat for Merkel, after the media compared it to Italy's 2-1 win over Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 on Thursday.
"The press should have written Angela plus Mario equals a step forward in European economic policy," Monti said in an interview published in Wednesday's edition of German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.The summit also agreed to create a single supervisory body for eurozone banks, which is seen as the first step towards a European banking union.Media agencies
Monti is also likely to want to discuss how to overcome any lingering opposition to what was hailed as his key victory at the Brussels summit - the agreement to allow European rescue funds to be used to support the bonds of countries facing soaring borrowing costs.
Merkel dropped her opposition to the bond-support measure after Monti and his Spanish counterpart Mariano Rajoy threatened not to back an agreement for a 120-billion-euro package to stoke flagging growth in Europe. The governments of Netherlands and Finland this week raised doubts about the bond-support agreement when they said they were opposed.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said on Tuesday that the two nations would not be able to veto it.But Merkel said those countries' reservations should be "respected".This has led to speculation the chancellor may be working behind the scenes to use the Netherlands and Finland against the deal.
Monti stressed that last week's agreement should not be considered a victory for him and a defeat for Merkel, after the media compared it to Italy's 2-1 win over Germany in the semi-finals of Euro 2012 on Thursday.
"The press should have written Angela plus Mario equals a step forward in European economic policy," Monti said in an interview published in Wednesday's edition of German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.The summit also agreed to create a single supervisory body for eurozone banks, which is seen as the first step towards a European banking union.Media agencies
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