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Radicova: EU Must Send Clear Signal to Markets, But It Might Not Work
Thursday 16 December 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Brussels, December 16 (TASR-correspondent) - The premiers of the Visegrad Four countries (Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland) agreed in Brussels on Thursday that there is a need to send a clear signal to the markets when it comes to a definite agreement on creating a permanent crisis mechanism to replace the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in 2013.
Only such a signal can contribute towards calming the situation on international markets, said Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova after the end of the V4 meeting, which was also attended by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Radicova at the same time conceded that even such an agreement might not work, however. "We still haven't sent such a signal. My personal opinion [is] that this won't be enough," she said.
The Slovak premier is satisfied with the preliminary agreements reached at the EU summit in Brussels. According to her, the creation of a permanent crisis mechanism with a role for the private sector in resolving future problems will remove moral hazard. "It should contain very strict mechanisms for proceeding if countries run up against problems. First, there is responsibility to the International Monetary Fund, then to the mechanism and then to the creditors, who come in last place," said Radicova.
Barroso expressed his hope that consensus will be reached at the summit and that the mechanism will be given the green light. "It'll be significant progress if we have a permanent mechanism after 2013," said Barroso, hoping that EU-member states will also reach agreement on the issue of revising the Lisbon Treaty for this purpose.
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