Europe’s finance ministers call for European Monetary Fund
Seen as a necessary step in strengthening the euro block, it has support from both Germany and France
Transforming the eurozone’s bailout fund into a European Monetary Fund is a necessary step and one that could be among the next moves enacted as its members seek to strengthen the currency bloc, Slovak finance minister Peter Kazimír said in an interview. His comments come as EU finance ministers, meeting in Tallinn, Estonia, seek to capitalise on a favourable shift in the political winds to make headway on uniting the bloc. German Chancellor Angela Merkel also renewed support for exploring the possibility of creating an EU monetary fund while meeting with French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe in Berlin on Friday. "There is a broad agreement on many issues, for instance the transformation of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) into a new entity with new tasks is a must," Kazimír said. "It is the primary candidate for a change." Finance chiefs at the two-day gathering will discuss different ways to further integrate the remaining 27 members of the region after the UK’s departure i...
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