Europeans to bail out their own
European leaders pledged to bail out their own nations’ banks while stopping short of a regional rescue effort to deal with the global credit crisis.
By Agencies |
PARIS: European leaders pledged to bail out their own nations��� banks while stopping short of a regional rescue effort to deal with the global credit crisis. At a summit in Paris on Saturday, leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, the European Central Bank and the European Commission agreed to ease accounting rules, seek tougher financial regulations and weaken enforcement of competition and budget laws.
���Each government will act according to its own methods and its own means but in a coordinated manner with the other European states,��� French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who called the meeting, told reporters. The failure to forge a consensus approach to shore up banks roiled by soaring borrowing costs reflects the divisions in the 27-nation bloc.
Germany criticised a plan floated by French finance minister Christine Lagarde to set up a rescue fund. A chorus of opposition greeted Ireland���s decision to guarantee its banks��� deposits and debts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel���s opposition underscored the hurdles to forging a unified front. ���Each country must take its responsibilities at a national level,��� she said.
Anticipating increased spending, declining tax revenue, and government bank takeovers, they called for ���greater flexibility��� in the appli-cation of EU competition and budget rules. They also said they want to change accounting rules that require banks to review their holdings each quarter and report losses when the values decline, the so-called mark-to-market standard.
Meanwhile, the leaders have also invited India to join in an emergency global summit on rebuilding the world's financial system. Sarkozy said the summit is planned for next month and is expected to include not only the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialised nations, but also India, China, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico.
Sarkozy, speaking on behalf of Europe, said he wants all leading eco-nomic nations together to create ���a new financial world just as Bretton Woods did 60 years ago���.
���Each government will act according to its own methods and its own means but in a coordinated manner with the other European states,��� French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who called the meeting, told reporters. The failure to forge a consensus approach to shore up banks roiled by soaring borrowing costs reflects the divisions in the 27-nation bloc.
Germany criticised a plan floated by French finance minister Christine Lagarde to set up a rescue fund. A chorus of opposition greeted Ireland���s decision to guarantee its banks��� deposits and debts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel���s opposition underscored the hurdles to forging a unified front. ���Each country must take its responsibilities at a national level,��� she said.
Anticipating increased spending, declining tax revenue, and government bank takeovers, they called for ���greater flexibility��� in the appli-cation of EU competition and budget rules. They also said they want to change accounting rules that require banks to review their holdings each quarter and report losses when the values decline, the so-called mark-to-market standard.
Meanwhile, the leaders have also invited India to join in an emergency global summit on rebuilding the world's financial system. Sarkozy said the summit is planned for next month and is expected to include not only the Group of Eight (G8) leading industrialised nations, but also India, China, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico.
Sarkozy, speaking on behalf of Europe, said he wants all leading eco-nomic nations together to create ���a new financial world just as Bretton Woods did 60 years ago���.
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