Italy and Spain were Saturday under intense pressure from their peers in the euro area to reassure their determination to keep public finances under control and show the market they will not be used to support fund the euro.
Finance ministers from the euro area and EU met in Brussels last Friday afternoon to prepare the ground for their leaders before the summit on Sunday and Wednesday that will lead to a formula to multiply the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF ) and give it sufficient capacity to help countries like Italy or Spain.
But senior sources involved in the discussions reported that several countries, including Germany, wanted to ensure that this would not fall back pressure on the Italian government to implement ambitious reforms.
"There will be more riding.No country will receive free aid, and certainly not Italy, "said one source.
"When the ECB started to buy the Italian debt in August, Rome was immediately released in its efforts, of which there is no wonder that there is a total lack of confidence of the Germans to (Silvio) Berlusconi right now, "she added.
The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Zapatero has also been invited to travel to Brussels on Saturday evening to meet other European leaders including Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, and President the European Central Bank Jean-Claude Trichet and the Executive Director of the IMF Christine Lagarde, said two diplomats.
ITALY
German Chancellor insisted on Saturday that Italy would reduce its debt so as not to jeopardize the support mechanisms for the euro and called Spain also redouble our efforts.
"If they do nothing to their budgets, they still have a debt equal to 120% (of GDP), such as Italy, while the height of the bunds will not matter because it will not help in any market to regain confidence, "she told members of his party.
"Spain has already done much but it will do more to restore market confidence," she added.
The European Commission said on Friday that Italy should take significant steps to boost growth, specify some of the savings measures announced in September and publish a calendar.
"There is no pressure but a strong incentive to do so," said at the time a spokesman for the Commission.
According to European sources, the Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, would not exclude to present an action plan
Italy remains under strong market pressure.Italian government bonds reached Friday to their highest level since August before falling when traders reported purchases of debt from the ECB on the secondary market.
SPAIN
Spain, the fourth largest economy in the euro area, is also under the spotlight because of concerns about its ability to meet its objectives of deficits and implement reforms to improve competitiveness and productivity.
The country will this year one of the largest deficits in the euro area, but he pledged to reduce it to 6% of GDP, against 9.3% in 2010.
The government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has already reduced the salaries of civil servants, frozen social spending, reform its banking sector and introduced a "golden rule" in its fiscal constitution.
While these measures have been applauded by the other members of the euro area, they also expect that the socialist government, which trails by 17 points in the polls for the elections of November 20, reassures its ability to control spending in the autonomous regions.
"In Spain, the uncertainty is not so much about the government but rather the level of local politics, which could slow the process," said a European source.
In Brussels, the Spanish Minister of Economy, Elena Salgado, said Madrid had no intention to introduce new measures.
"Not for a moment (…) We have adopted a number of measures: for reform of the constitution of laws to prevent a financial sector restructuring n'impacte the deficit," she said Friday, adding that plans for financial stability had also been issued for the regions.
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