Tiswatzeg schreef op 11 juni 2012 22:15:
Nederland heeft ESM nog niet geratificeerd ! LEES !
STRASBOURG--Five countries are dragging their feet in ratifying the treaty governing the euro area's permanent rescue fund that is expected to play a role in Spain's bank bailout, the European commissioner for economics, Olli Rehn, told reporters Monday.
Mr. Rehn expressed his concern that Austria, Belgium, Estonia, the Netherlands and Slovakia were being slow to ratify the treaty of the European Stability Mechanism and said he had urged these countries to push the treaty through faster. He said Germany's cumbersome ratification process was in the pipeline and he expected it to be completed before the end of June.
The ratification date is important because the ESM will theoretically fund part of the Spanish bank bailout--the amount and means are yet to be defined, however, and Mr. Rehn said more detail would be forthcoming "in coming weeks."
The other institution that will be funding the Spanish assistance program will be the temporary rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
Markets were spooked by the ESM role in this bailout, because the permanent rescue fund enjoys so-called preferred creditor status. That means that in the event of a default, the ESM will have to be repaid before any private-sector investors. The EFSF has no such seniority.
But Mr. Rehn wouldn't be drawn on whether he would prefer the funding for the Spanish bank bailout to come from one or the other fund.
"[There is the] possibility of using either the EFSF or the ESM to establish the credit line for Spain, or a combination of both," he said, adding that "both options have their own pros and cons and we're currently in a dialogue with the euro-area member states to define how we will optimize their use."
Asked whether Italy was next in line to receive a bailout, given increasing market pressure on the country after the announcement of the Spanish assistance deal, Mr. Rehn declined to speculate.
"We all know that Europe has a difficult economic situation. I do not want to start painting more negative scenarios on the wall," he said.
He reiterated the European Commission's view that Italy has serious macroeconomic imbalances but said the country was taking "bold and decisive action" to correct them through fiscal policies and structural overhauls.
Following comments by Cyprus's finance minister earlier Monday that his country, too, would require financial assistance for bank recapitalization, Mr. Rehn said that the commission hadn't received any such request but added that it stood ready to help Cyprus address its imbalances.