Thousands of questions remain to be clarified before any European Monetary Fund could be set up, Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker said today.
An organisation of this type, which some German politicians are championing to bail out euro zone countries which face insolvency, wouldn't in any case help in the current case of Greece's debt crisis, he told Germany's NDR radio.
"There are thousands of questions to clarify with the creation of the European Monetary Fund," he said in a telephone interview. "It would not be an instrument for Greek-style solutions, were this to be necessary."
Yesterday OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan said that setting up such a regional fund could take a long time, so Greece's crisis would have to be solved with existing arrangements.
European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet, also speaking yesterday, did not dismiss the idea of a new European financial support fund in principle but said the bank's policymakers would need to look at the proposal in more depth.
Mr Trichet said calling such a fund the European Monetary Fund would not necessarily accurately reflect its role, which he saw as providing financial help with strict conditions.
Mr Juncker said the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers should expand its monitoring system for countries' budgets, noting that Greece had steadily lost its competitive edge since joining the euro zone.
A German government spokesman said yesterday that the euro's stability must take top priority in the creation of any European Monetary Fund, and EU rules on curbing budget deficits must in no way be softened.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble gave his backing to the idea in a weekend interview and Chancellor Angela Merkel has also given a degree of support. But Germany's two representatives on the European Central Bank's Governing Council are less enthusiastic.
Reuters