We’re calling it a victory for Jacques Delors.
Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy finished their bilateral summit on Tuesday afternoon and announced several new measures, some substantial, some speculative, some silly.
Eurobonds are not on the table and there’s no further expansion of the EFSF — not yet at least.
Flashes from Reuters:
RTRS-PARIS-GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL SAYS WE ARE STILL SUFFERING CONSEQUENCES OF INTL FINANCIAL CRISIS
17:14 16Aug11 RTRS-GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL SAYS GERMANY AND FRANCE FEEL OBLIGATION TO ENSURE STRONG EURO
17:15 16Aug11 RTRS-GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL SAYS CONVINCED MARKET CONFIDENCE WILL RETURN
17:16 16Aug11 RTRS-GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL SAYS MEMBERS OF EURO ZONE MUST RESPECT NEW FISCAL RULES, DEBT LIMITS
17:17 16Aug11 RTRS-GERMAN CHANCELLOR MERKEL SAYS EURO STATES MUST AGREE TO IMPLEMENT CHANGES TO BUDGET POLICIES IF BRUSSELS SAYS CHANGES NEEDED
17:07 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS PROPOSALS FROM FRANCE, GERMANY ON EURO ZONE WILL BE COMPLETE
17:08 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS HE AND MERKEL DECIDED TO PROPOSE COMMON GOVERNANCE FOR EURO ZONE
17:09 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS PROPOSAL WOULD ELECT A EURO ZONE PRESIDENT FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS
17:09 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS PROPOSALS WOULD ASK 17 EURO ZONE COUNTRIES TO PUT DEFICIT LIMIT RULE IN CONSTITUTIONS BY SUMMER 2012
17:11 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS STILL SEEKING CONSENSUS IN FRANCE ON A CONSTITUTIONAL DEBT LIMIT
17:11 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS FRENCH, GERMAN FINMINS TO PROPOSE IN SEPTEMBER A NEW TAX ON FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS
17:12 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS FRANCE, GERMANY SEEKING TO HARMONISE COMPANY TAX RATE AND BASE
Attention will be given to the Tobin-style tax proposal but it’s worth remembering that Sarkozy has suggested this before. The only difference now seems to be that he’s looking to use the proceeds to prop up the eurozone rather than fund development in Africa and climate change mitigation efforts. A sad sign of the times.
US stocks declined as news came in from Paris. There are signs of greater harmony here, but they are a tad flaky. Constitutional amendments to individual nations’ budgets could be considered passing the Maastricht buck, and we all know what the Irish made of earlier efforts to standardise corporate tax rates.
The less said about another European “President” the better.
Still, perhaps there’s hope yet for eurobond fans, but they might have to wait a while:
RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS HE, MERKEL HAVE EXACTLY THE SAME POSITION ON THE ISSUE OF COMMON EURO BONDS
17:24 16Aug11 RTRS-SARKOZY SAYS EURO BONDS COULD BE IMAGINED ONE DAY, BUT ONLY AT END OF A PROCESS OF EURO ZONE INTEGRATION