Herman Van Rompuy

Euro crisis: “Europe’s common currency is its formative element.”

Pete Baker on June 4, 2012, 5:32 pm

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The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has a plan. Or, at least, a timetable. Herman Van Rompuy told a news conference in St Petersburg, Russia that, by the next summit of EU leaders at the end of June, he and three other EU officials would present “the main building blocks for this deepened economic and monetary union” and “a working method to achieve this objective”. “In those building blocks, banking integration is an important chapter… I will deal at …

Euro crisis: “it is time to send for the Borg…”

Pete Baker on November 15, 2011, 3:25 pm

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You can follow the latest developments in the eurozone crisis at the Guardian’s live-Business blog as pressure mounts on Italian Prime Minister designate, Mario Monti – who was nominated to replace Silvio Berlusconi three days after the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, appointed Monti a Lifetime Senator. From his Wikipedia entry In 2007, Monti was one of the first supporters of the first European civic forum, Etats Généraux de l’Europe, initiated by European think tank EuropaNova and European Movement. In December 2009, he …

Euro crisis: “this is not a crisis about the euro”

Pete Baker on July 31, 2011, 5:45 pm

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So sayeth the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, writing in the Guardian. And he should know! From the Guardian article Astonishingly, since our summit the cost of borrowing has increased again for a number of euro area countries. I say astonishingly, because all macro economic fundamentals point in the opposite direction. It cannot be stressed enough that Greece is in a unique situation, not comparable to that of the other eurozone countries. Italy will generate a primary …

Euro crisis: “everything those leaders have done, after large amounts of dithering, has ended up making the situation worse.”

Pete Baker on July 19, 2011, 7:48 pm

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That’s the BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders quoted above, by the way. Which brings me back to Thursday’s emergency summit called by European Council president, Herman Van Rompuy “Our agenda will be the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek programme,” said Mr Van Rompuy in a brief statement last night. [Friday 15th July] Perhaps… But Frau Bundeskanzlerin, who reportedly wasn’t as keen on the summit being called, has been playing down expectations …

Van Rompuy: “Our agenda will be the financial stability of the euro area as a whole…”

Pete Baker on July 16, 2011, 3:53 pm

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European Council President Herman Van Rompuy has called an emergency summit of divided euro zone leaders on Thursday to address the existential European debt crisis. From the Irish Times report “Our agenda will be the financial stability of the euro area as a whole and the future financing of the Greek programme,” said Mr Van Rompuy in a brief statement last night. “I have asked for the preparatory work to be brought forward inter alia by the finance ministries.” And they …

Van Rompuy: “Europe is still sexy…”

Pete Baker on July 5, 2011, 10:54 pm

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So sayeth the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, as the BBC Europe editor Gavin Hewitt notes Europe’s leaders are unsettled, scratchy. Old certainties have given way to anxiety. The open road to ever closer union is now strewn with boulders. You can gauge the ebbing confidence from remarks that didn’t need to be made. “Europe is still sexy,” declared President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. “As long as a club attracts new members,” he added, “it is …

“Corporation tax is now mentioned as a quid pro quo”

Pete Baker on March 12, 2011, 1:15 pm

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Encouraging noises are one thing, but at the first EU late nighter of Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s tenure the BBC reports some possibly premature tweeting from EU President Herman Van Rompuy. In a message on Twitter, Mr Van Rompuy had initially said: “We have an agreement on the Pact for Euro.” The message was later amended to: “Update from ongoing meeting: Agreement in principle on the Pact for the Euro, but still discussing the other elements of the package.” A pact would …