Brussels, 26/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission hinted on Wednesday 26 January that the presentation of an exhaustive package of new legislation to get the European Union out of the economic crisis will not be made until the European Council at the end of March 2011. “The upcoming February EU Council could be a step in preparing the ground for a comprehensive response”, said a European Commission spokesperson, adding that the Commission is making a very significant contribution to the work in progress. Barroso asked in mid-January for decisions to be taken at the February European Council on increasing the clout and scope of the EFSF (see EUROPE 10292) that was set up in May 2010 to ensure stability in the eurozone. The EFSF, an intergovernmental fund, made its first foray onto the financial markets on Tuesday, raising €5bn (see EUROPE 10301).
On Tuesday evening, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, met Barroso for a working lunch. A German government press release after the talks mentions three aspects of this comprehensive EU approach, namely budget consolidation, reform of economic governance and measures to improve economic competitiveness. Consideration of possible changes to the EFSF was not mentioned, and neither was the creation of the European Stability Mechanism to replace the EFSF in the summer of 2013.
Barroso's lightening visit coincided with a visit to Germany of EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, who met with German MPs from the Liberal FDP party in Berlin. The FDP shares power with the Christian Democrats. It is hostile to increasing the EFSF's lending capacity. FDP leader, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, is reported in Reuters as saying that it does not make sense to talk about expanding the bailout fund because only 10% of it has been used thus far. (M.B./transl.fl)