Brussels, 09/11/2011 (Agence Europe) - The finance ministers of the 10 non-euro EU member states held their second informal coordination meeting on Monday 7 November on the fringes of the Eurogroup meeting of eurozone finance ministers. After the Tuesday 8 November ECOFIN Council, the Polish finance minister Jacek Rostowsk said the non-euro countries' meeting might become a regular fixture. He said he favoured greater integration within the eurozone in order to restore financial stability as long as that did not sideline the non-euro countries and create a gap between the two groups. Since it took over the chairing of the Council of the EU, Poland has been unsuccessfully demanding the authorisation to attend the Eurogroup meetings, arguing that the work in progress on boosting economic governance will impact on the entry criteria for new countries required to join the eurozone under their EU accession treaties.
In Strasbourg on Tuesday, the French president Nicolas Sarkozy defended the idea of a two-speed Europe, particularly when Balkans states join the club. French business newspaper Les Echos reports that the there wouldn't be a currency without greater economic integration and convergence and that is the direction currently being followed. He said that there were clearly two speeds in Europe - one speed towards greater integration in the eurozone and then a more confederal speed within the European Union. (MB/transl.fl)