Brussels, 10/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 9 September, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet called on Europe to prepare for reducing deficits when growth returns, saying it was “very important” to be “convincing” in this area.
“I will repeat what I said at the G20 (meeting of finance ministers in London on 4-5 September) - it is not yet time to say that the crisis is over. At the same time, it is very important to be convincing on the path towards a normal sustainable position” in public finances, said Trichet. He was speaking after a meeting with European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek in Brussels.
The finance ministers of the 20 largest industrialised and emerging countries on the planet agreed to continue to implement recovery plans determinedly until the recovery has fully taken hold. At the same time, they said they wanted a transparent and credible exit process for when growth was solidly established. They undertook to develop “cooperative and coordinated” crisis and deficit exit strategies, tailored to the needs of each country.
Buzek said that the EP was “still a strong defender of eurozone enlargement” and that it supported the creation of a new financial architecture. He said, too, that the EP had taken careful note; - of the initiative of 8 member states to continue reforms in the banking sector; - and of the proposals to create caps and taxes on bonuses, cancelling rewards if investments fail (see EUROPE 9971). “It is not easy to answer such a proposal at the EU level, at the European Parliament level we support it,” he said. (L.C./transl.rt)