“We need the financial industry to be honest with us,” she told a conference in Berlin. “If we don’t get honesty, then we might not do the right thing technically but we will do the right thing politically.”
Wolfgang Schäuble, her finance minister, defended Germany’s sudden move. “If you want to drain a swamp, you don’t ask the frogs for an objective assessment of the situation,” he told reporters. ft
The Krauts really shouldn’t talk to the French like that
The question of EU financial aid to debt-stricken Greece is marred by contradictory reports of a bailout. The European Commission and the German government both denied the existence of an alleged €20-25 billion bailout plan as an EU mission landed in Greece yesterday (22 February) to assess the country’s rescue plans.
A Commission official denied allegations that the EU is reviewing a bailout package for Greece to the tune of €20-25 billion after the Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine allegedly got hold of a paper from the country’s finance ministry detailing the terms of Berlin’s contribution.
The EU formalised its support for a Greek rescue, should the time come, at an EU summit two weeks ago, but member states refused to say how much a bailout could cost and how the money would be raised (EurActiv 17/02/10).
“Greece has not requested a single euro,” the Commission official told the press, rejecting claims that calculations of individual member states’ shares of a bailout were afoot.
German finance ministry denies ‘concrete plans’
“We need the financial industry to be honest with us,” she told a conference in Berlin. “If we don’t get honesty, then we might not do the right thing technically but we will do the right thing politically.”