Eurozone: Signs of life from the French-German axis – ING

Carsten Brzeski, Chief Economist at ING, points out that today, Eurozone finance ministers meet again to discuss possible measures for further integration in the Eurozone and will be a key event for today’s session.

Key Quotes

“The question is how many precise results Eurozone finance ministers can now present to their government leaders, who in turn hoped to present – next to Brexit – some positive European news at the December summit.”

“Time is clearly running out and the latest Italian fiscal escapades have done little to increase the appetite for more fiscal integration or additional transfers of any kind. Therefore, our expectation is still that the December summit will not produce any significant breakthroughs, besides making the ESM a financial backstop to the bank resolution fund (SRF), probably with some strings attached. Any additional decisions would be a surprise but who does not want to be surprised, shortly before Christmas?”