Euro Area

[gaelic cowboy]

Sarkozy, Merkel want eurozone government

The leaders of France and Germany have called for the formation of a common eurozone government after a meeting in Paris on the debt crisis.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the proposals would ask eurozone countries to put limits on their budget deficits in their constitutions by summer 2012.
The two leaders are also proposing a new collective economic 'government' for the eurozone consisting of heads of state or government that would meet at least twice a year.
They are proposing that this body would be led by the Herman Van Rompuy.
They also proposed a new tax on financial transactions.
Ms 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.

Debt limits dont fix the problem we have NOW what are these people at they decided they needed another meeting twice a year in which they will do as little then as now.