European Monetary Fund Closer to Reality
NEW YORK (
) -- Proposals for an emergency financial assistance fund in Europe picked up steam after the European Commission appeared ready to make it a reality.
In the wake of Greece's sovereign debt woes, talk has swirled around creating an International Monetary Fund-like mechanism for Europe that could intervene during emergencies to help stabilize the financial system. Though ideas are sketchy at this point, a
Bloomberg Business Week
post reported that the group will begin discussing the rescue proposal this Tuesday and a plan may come together by June.
"The commission is ready to propose such a European instrument for assistance, which would require the support of all euro area member states," Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, the group's economy spokesman, reiterated on Monday, according to
Business Week.
But the plan still has its detractors. European Central Bank Executive Juergen Stark criticized the idea on Monday. In a guest column, Stark wrote that an emergency fund "would not be compatible with the principles of the monetary union" and that it "would be the start of a financial leveling off in Europe, which would become very expensive, set the wrong incentives and burden countries with more solid public finances," according to a
Reuters
report.
Still, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered support to the rough framework, saying Tuesday it would "signal to markets that speculation cannot work," according to a report from
The Associated Press.
The
AP
also said European Union governments would fund the mechanism, though it would not replace EU budget regulations capping debt levels.
--Written by Sung Moss in New York
