Eurozone debt crisis: talks break down as Angela Merkel rejects rescue deal
Rows between Europes leaders threatened to undermine attempts to rescue the eurozone as it emerged that a make-or-break summit will not address key aspects of the deepening crisis.
9:02PM BST 25 Oct 2011
As Germany raised fresh objections to the proposed rescue deal for indebted eurozone countries, the International Monetary Fund signalled it was considering stepping in - a move that could lead to British taxpayers paying to support the single currency.
Amid mounting Coalition tensions over Europe between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, David Cameron will today travel to Brussels, where European Union leaders have promised to hammer out a deal to resolve Europes debt crisis.
But officials admitted last night that many of the details of any deal will not be resolved tonight and will have to wait for another meeting of EU finance ministers at the weekend.
The gloomy outlook worried financial markets. The FTSE 100 index closed down at 5525, and shares in Germany, France and the US all fell
The single currency rescue effort was left hanging in the balance last night as Germany and Italy both challenged aspects of the likely deal.
EU leaders have said a summit tonight will outline plans to cut Greeces crippling debt burden and expand a bail-out fund meant to support larger EU economies such as Italy and Spain.
Yet leaders last night appeared to be little closer to settling their long-standing differences on those issues.
The biggest row centres on the role of the European Central Bank in bailing out struggling eurozone economies.
A draft agreement circulated among leaders yesterday suggested that the ECB should go on buying the bonds of troubled members, effectively lending money to them directly.
The ECBs bond-buying programme is unpopular in Germany, where critics fear it will compromise the central banks independence and its ability to control inflation.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who is facing fierce domestic opposition to the rescue deal, yesterday publicly rejected the draft as not acceptable to Germany.
read more Eurozone debt crisis: talks break down as Angela Merkel rejects rescue deal - Telegraph
Rows between Europes leaders threatened to undermine attempts to rescue the eurozone as it emerged that a make-or-break summit will not address key aspects of the deepening crisis.
9:02PM BST 25 Oct 2011
As Germany raised fresh objections to the proposed rescue deal for indebted eurozone countries, the International Monetary Fund signalled it was considering stepping in - a move that could lead to British taxpayers paying to support the single currency.
Amid mounting Coalition tensions over Europe between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, David Cameron will today travel to Brussels, where European Union leaders have promised to hammer out a deal to resolve Europes debt crisis.
But officials admitted last night that many of the details of any deal will not be resolved tonight and will have to wait for another meeting of EU finance ministers at the weekend.
The gloomy outlook worried financial markets. The FTSE 100 index closed down at 5525, and shares in Germany, France and the US all fell
The single currency rescue effort was left hanging in the balance last night as Germany and Italy both challenged aspects of the likely deal.
EU leaders have said a summit tonight will outline plans to cut Greeces crippling debt burden and expand a bail-out fund meant to support larger EU economies such as Italy and Spain.
Yet leaders last night appeared to be little closer to settling their long-standing differences on those issues.
The biggest row centres on the role of the European Central Bank in bailing out struggling eurozone economies.
A draft agreement circulated among leaders yesterday suggested that the ECB should go on buying the bonds of troubled members, effectively lending money to them directly.
The ECBs bond-buying programme is unpopular in Germany, where critics fear it will compromise the central banks independence and its ability to control inflation.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor who is facing fierce domestic opposition to the rescue deal, yesterday publicly rejected the draft as not acceptable to Germany.
read more Eurozone debt crisis: talks break down as Angela Merkel rejects rescue deal - Telegraph