July 21, 2011
The leaders of the euro region’s two biggest economies and the president of its central bank are meeting in Berlin to seek common ground on fighting the debt crisis before a European summit.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy were joined by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet after finishing their working dinner at the Chancellery, a French government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. They’re gathering as pressure grows on Merkel to take charge of Europe’s crisis response, a day after President Barack Obama spoke by phone with her to discuss the risk to the world economy radiating from Europe.
Euro-area government chiefs will convene in Brussels tomorrow for the second time in a month as they aim to break a deadlock over a new Greek rescue that has spooked investors. While Merkel said yesterday the crisis can’t be resolved in “one spectacular step,” Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou said in an interview that the summit could be a “make-or-break moment” for the euro region.
“We have found solutions to previous crises and we’ll find a solution now as well,” French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters in Madrid today. “A failure would be catastrophic for the euro zone.”
Sarkozy and Merkel began talks at 5:30 p.m. to prepare tomorrow’s summit, Steffen Seibert, Merkel’s spokesman, told reporters in Berlin. The leaders have a record of meeting one- on-one to try to steer Europe’s way out of the crisis, most recently in Berlin on June 17 when the French leader declared a “breakthrough” on making private investors bear part of the cost of a second Greek rescue.
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