French premier calls for strong European economic governance
Berlin (dpa) - French Prime Minister Francois Fillon called on Wednesday for strong economic governance within the European Union (EU), to complement a possible IMF-style "European Monetary Fund".
Fillon said the economic crisis had demonstrated the importance of adapting control mechanisms within the 16-country eurozone, during a talk at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
"The appropriate measures need to be at our disposal, so we can react in the case of economic or financial difficulties of a eurozone member state," Fillon said.
The prime minister said a European Monetary Fund could potentially "complete the measures available for the eurozone and its members to react to financial tensions that could threaten the currency′s stability."
Fillon was due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel later Wednesday. Merkel has stressed that any European equivalent to the IMF could only ever be a measure of last resort.
"It is important to the chancellor that first there would need to be a cascade of sanctions, which still need to be thought through," a spokesman for Merkel said.
In any case, the spokesman added, such a fund was only conceivable in the long term, and would not solve Greece′s current problems.
The French premier said the crisis in Greece had hit "the heart of the pact that unites us, which is our common currency."
Fillon said it was out of the question for Greece to leave the eurozone, adding that the other member states had a duty to show solidarity. dpa hm mt