BRUSSELS – The EU is not facing monetary Armageddon, Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, told the Brussels Economic Forum on Tuesday in Brussels.
“We are not in a monetary Armageddon,” said Van Rompuy. “Verbal inflation will not bring back confidence. It is a political duty to keep a sense of proportion. We are certainly in a critical moment. One can call it unprecedented and historical. But crisis are always unprecedented. That is the whole point.”
EU policymakers took the right steps to ensure that heavily indebted states, particularly Greece, won’t be allowed to fail, he said. He added that he is confident Greece will surmount its debt problems with the EU’s help.
EU policymakers took the right steps to ensure that heavily indebted states, particularly Greece, won’t be allowed to fail, he said. He added that he is confident Greece will surmount its debt problems with the EU’s help.
Olli Rehn, Member of the EC in charge of Economic and Monetary Affairs, launched the Brussels Economic Forum today in Brussels, mainly focusing this year on exit strategies out of the current debt crisis in the European Union and on how the Europe 2020 strategy can spur growth.
It is still unclear what impact the recent turmoil in sovereign debt markets will have on the EU’s economic recovery, Rehn told the audience.The critical question is whether the real economy can sustain the renewed turbulence in financial markets, he added.
“To succeed with this strategy, we need to introduce a truly European dimension to economic policy making in Europe,” said Rehn. “This is why the Commission recently presented an ambitious set of proposals to reinforce economic governance in Europe. We want to strengthen preventive budgetary surveillance, to address macro-economic imbalances and to set up a permanent and robust framework for crisis management.”
The Brussels Economic Forum is the European Union’s premier platform for debate on economic issues. It is an opportunity to meet decision-makers, opinion leaders and other key players from government authorities, international organisations, European institutions, financial institutions, social partners, academia and the media.
