The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, has welcomed what he has called the initiative by the French and German leaders to address the wider eurozone crisis, following a meeting in Paris this afternoon.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel are proposing a new collective economic ‘government’ for the eurozone, consisting of heads of state that would meet at least twice a year and be led by the European Council President, Herman Van Rompuy.
The two leaders are also to propose that the 17 eurozone countries adopt measures in their constitutions to enshrine rules on budgetary stability by the summer of next year.
Minister Noonan said the initiative reaffirmed an 'absolute determination' to defend the euro.
In a statement this evening, Minister Noonan said the Department of Finance has already undertaken detailed work on the preparation of the fiscal responsibility bill.
He said any proposal for a constitutional amendment would be a matter for Government consideration.
'I note President Sarkozy indication that the use of guarantees could be considered in the context of future funding for countries,' Mr Noonan said.
'The Commission already has proposals on CCCTB on the table and Ireland has already signalled we are going to constructively engage on this issue. That remains the case.’
Chancellor Merkel said eurobonds were not answer to the debt crisis 'today'.
Mr Sarkozy said France and Germany were at one on the issue, but he said eurobonds could be imagined, but only at the end of a process of euro zone integration.
Most European stock markets ended down this evening ahead as investors awaited the outcome of the meeting Mr Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Shares were affected earlier by weak growth figures from Germany and the eurozone, but gained back some ground this afternoon after better than expected US industrial production figures.
London's FTSE edged up 0.1% to finish at 5,358. In Frankfurt, the main DAX index fell 0.5% to 5,995, while in Paris the CAC dropped 0.3% to 3,231.
Last week's decision by the European Central Bank to buy €22bn worth of bonds in heavily indebted nations has calmed markets, however it is seen by many as a temporary fix.
