The head of euro zone finance ministers, Jean-Claude Juncker, said he may raise the idea of creating joint Europe-wide bonds at a European summit this week despite German objections.
'I will talk about it if the opportunity arises,' Juncker, who is also prime minister of Luxembourg, said in an interview ahead of a two-day European Union summit starting tomorrow.
But 'I am realistic enough to know this question will not be at the forefront of the European Council on Thursday and Friday, and that no decision on way or another will be taken,' he added.
He said he was convinced however that the 27-nation bloc 'will come back to this idea' in the future. Juncker has called Germany 'un-European' for rejecting E-bonds, which would help weaker euro zone countries raise funds amid rising interest rates following debt bail-outs for Greece and Ireland.
'For a systemic crisis you need a systemic response,' Juncker said. 'So I believe that when the day comes, we will come back to this proposal. I have no doubt at all that we will come back to it,' he added.
Germany enjoys the lowest sovereign bond yields in Europe thanks to strong investor confidence in its fiscal health and ability to repay its debts. It fears that if it is lumped in with weaker euro zone members, it will have to pay higher returns to investors in its bonds to offset the increased risk they pose for repayment.
