Brussels, 19/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - Looking ahead to the first meeting of the task force on economic governance, to be held in Brussels on Friday 21 May under the chairmanship of Herman Van Rompuy, Germany decided on Tuesday to ban (until March 2011) naked sales on financial values and bear bets on state bonds - an initiative that surprised his European partners but which will be tackled on Friday within the working groups set up by the European Council. “I intend to raise this matter”, said Van Rompuy during a press conference in Madrid, specifying that “close cooperation in the EU on all issues which have a strong market impact is very important and needs to be strengthened”. On the side of the European Commission, Michel Barnier, who had not been informed of Germany's intention during the meeting of the Ecofin Council the day before, states in a press release that “it is important for member states to act together and for us to design a European regime to avoid regulatory arbitrage and fragmentation both within the EU and globally”. Other German proposals, on budgetary surveillance this time, should be unveiled on Friday by Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who has already floated the idea of introducing into national constitutions a “brake on debt” (similar to what Germany has set in place) or that aimed at strengthening sanctions within the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact (no right of vote). The working group must give its conclusions for the European Council in October, but will present an intermediary report during the June European Council.
Furthermore, while Jean-Claude Juncker had said on Monday evening that a meeting of the Eurogroup would be organised on Friday, in the wake of the task force meeting which they will attend, eurozone finance ministers will not meet in a specific format of 16, Juncker's spokesman said on Wednesday. Discussions to seek to finalise technical arrangements for the European financial stabilisation mechanism are continuing at the level of the member states' chancellors of the exchequer, he confirmed, without saying whether a final result was expected on Friday. (A.B./transl.jl)