Merkel, widely seen as the woman in charge of Europe’s future, has repeatedly ruled out speedy fixes. However, if the French-German proposals do not produce a breakthrough, they could disappoint investors who have been relying on a solution.
Many officials have said that whatever European leaders agree on at a summit at the end of the week will make or break the continent’s finances.
Skeptical Germans see a pattern, as hopes have built before one high-profile meeting after another this year, only to crash back to earth after leaders yet again fail to halt to the crisis. Merkel herself has steadfastly maintained that solutions will be gradual.
German officials acknowledged privately on Sunday that they would need to take short-term measures to calm markets and help troubled countries like Italy and Spain with their borrowing costs, which have spiked to euro-era records in recent weeks.
Despite this, the tone in Berlin remains deeply dead-set against the fastest ways to cap the crisis, focusing instead on treaty changes that would make the rest of the euro zone behave more like Germany. A growing number of critics say that Merkel and Sarkozy are not moving quickly enough.
(아주경제 앤드류 이 기자)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com