He welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plans to modify the European treaty,
but said they needed to take a harsher stance with countries who
failed to meet the bloc’s economic conditions.”The new treaty should make it possible to kick a country
out of the euro zone if a majority of 75 percent are in favour,”
Delors told Le Monde. “Having a single currency means having to
meet stricter requirements.”He said if the region had set up an economic coordination
unit years ago the troubles with Greece that now threaten to
bring down the currency could largely have been avoided.”The euro council would have asked questions about the
situation in Greece when there was still time to act, and about
the worrying increase in private debt in Spain, Ireland and
Italy. They could have reacted,” he said.Euro zone countries are battling to save Greece from an
outright bankruptcy, a scenario that threatens to spread to
other countries in the region and bring down banks exposed to
sovereign debt.Economists have speculated that Greece might be forced to
quit the euro, a solution currently not possible under the terms
of the European treaty.Euro zone leaders are trying to agree on a way to shore up
banks’ capital to weather a Greek default, and leveraging the
bloc’s rescue fund to prevent contagion to other countries.Ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday it could place
France’s Aaa debt rating on negative watch if slower growth and
the cost of a bailout for banks and other countries put its
budget under too much strain.Delors voiced exasperation that leaders had taken so long to
act decisively on the debt crisis and said talk of a bank
recapitalisation was jumping the gun.”We’re moving onto the next step — recapitalisation of the
banks — before we’ve applied the terms of the July 21
agreement,” he told Le Monde.
He welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plans to modify the European treaty,
but said they needed to take a harsher stance with countries who
failed to meet the bloc’s economic conditions.”The new treaty should make it possible to kick a country
out of the euro zone if a majority of 75 percent are in favour,”
Delors told Le Monde. “Having a single currency means having to
meet stricter requirements.”He said if the region had set up an economic coordination
unit years ago the troubles with Greece that now threaten to
bring down the currency could largely have been avoided.”The euro council would have asked questions about the
situation in Greece when there was still time to act, and about
the worrying increase in private debt in Spain, Ireland and
Italy. They could have reacted,” he said.Euro zone countries are battling to save Greece from an
outright bankruptcy, a scenario that threatens to spread to
other countries in the region and bring down banks exposed to
sovereign debt.Economists have speculated that Greece might be forced to
quit the euro, a solution currently not possible under the terms
of the European treaty.Euro zone leaders are trying to agree on a way to shore up
banks’ capital to weather a Greek default, and leveraging the
bloc’s rescue fund to prevent contagion to other countries.Ratings agency Moody’s said on Monday it could place
France’s Aaa debt rating on negative watch if slower growth and
the cost of a bailout for banks and other countries put its
budget under too much strain.Delors voiced exasperation that leaders had taken so long to
act decisively on the debt crisis and said talk of a bank
recapitalisation was jumping the gun.”We’re moving onto the next step — recapitalisation of the
banks — before we’ve applied the terms of the July 21
agreement,” he told Le Monde.
