There is no agreement on the crisis, say Merkel and Sarkozy.
"There were hours and hours of discussions (...) We haven't been successful yet, but we have until Wednesday," said Sarkozy.
An agreement on how to recapitalize eurozone banks and the best way to increase the capacity of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) was not reached at the European Union summit held today in Brussels, said French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During a joint press conference, they said that negotiations to find a comprehensive solution to the eurozone crisis will continue until Wednesday.
Sarkozy and Merkel also stated that they were satisfied with the progress made, but that negotiations would be necessary over the next three days. "There have been hours and hours of discussions (...) We haven't been successful yet, but we have until Wednesday," said Sarkozy, highlighting the "considerable complexity" of the issues at stake.
Merkel also stated that new measures for Greece were discussed and that the country will need further reforms.
Transforming the EFSF into a bank, an option advocated by France to leverage the mechanism and increase its size, was off the negotiating table today, Sarkozy declared, because the option would not be approved by all the institutions involved, including the European Central Bank (ECB). But the German Chancellor said that none of the options studied for the line include the European Central Bank (ECB).
The recapitalization of the bloc's banks will be discussed at a European Union summit on Wednesday, which will include the 17 countries of the eurozone as well as the other 10 members of the European Union.
Among the issues preventing a broad agreement on the plan, Sarkozy stressed that "other partners, notably the private sector, needed to reach an agreement on a voluntary basis." Merkel, for her part, emphasized that bank recapitalization alone makes no sense. (Source: Dow Jones)