Merkel urges EU fiscal union to tackle eurozone crisis
Baku, December 2 (AZERTAC). German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Europe is working towards setting up a "fiscal union", in a bid to resolve the eurozone`s debt crisis, according to BBC.
She told the Bundestag that a new EU treaty was needed to set up such a union and impose financial discipline.
On Monday she is to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has also called for EU treaty changes.
EU leaders have been under pressure to do more to tackle the debt crisis, amid concern about the survival of the euro.
In her speech, Mrs Merkel promised "concrete steps towards a fiscal union".
"We need budget discipline and effective crisis management mechanism. So we need to change the treaties or create new treaties," she said.
The German government has been pressing for changes to establish powers to veto national budgets in the eurozone that breach agreed rules.
"We have started a new phase in European integration," Mrs Merkel said.
But she made it clear that this was a long-term process that would take years.
On Thursday, Mr Sarkozy said a new European treaty governing relations between members was necessary to protect Europe`s place in the world.
"We must confront those who doubt the stability of the euro and speculate on its break-up with total solidarity," Mr Sarkozy said.
Mr Sarkozy said the euro could not continue to exist unless eurozone economies pulled together, with France and Germany playing a key role to ensure "a zone of stability".
However Mr Sarkozy rejected suggestions that national budgets could be approved and regulated in Brussels, and said France would not give up its sovereignty.
In her speech on Friday, Mrs Merkel also reiterated her opposition to the European Central Bank (ECB) issuing "eurobonds" backed by all eurozone members.
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