Brussels, 17/12/2010 (Agence Europe) - If eurobonds were already in existence, I would buy them right now, said the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, at a meeting with young people from the EPP Group in Brussels on Thursday evening on the fringes of the European Council. He said he would rather buy eurobonds than gilts from a single country because there is the European guarantee behind eurobonds. Berlusconi mentioned eurobonds on several occasions on the fringes of the summit and afterwards, when he suggested that a feasibility study should be carried out on the idea recently mooted by Italy's finance minister, Giulio Tremonti. It's an excellent idea that needs to be looked into, although eurobonds could not be brought in immediately, requiring more time to set up. Berlusconi recognised that the idea is currently opposed by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and would therefore not be approved any time soon, but said that it would be possible to bring Angela Merkel round to the idea at some point because Europe would not have to come up with money, only guarantees. The money will come from the private sector, explained Berlusconi. At the end of the summit, Berlusconi said the agreement had been reached in an ambiance of agreement and provided irreversible security for the euro although some countries had had nationalistic tendencies. Italy's prime minister praised the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, who had behaved with great wisdom and balance. In public statements in Brussels, Berlusconi, whose government has survived a vote of confidence in the Chamber, focused on developments in domestic affairs in Italy, adding that he had been warmly congratulated by his counterparts at the European Council “as if I'd been to the moon”, he said. (Press reports, Gp/transl.fl)