Stressing on united efforts and structural political reforms to tackle the European debt crisis, the German Chancellor Ms Angela Merkel has said her country is not prepared to provide any guarantee on the euro currency.
In her opening speech at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting here on Wednesday, Ms Merkel said that Europe needs to move forward with structural political reforms if it is to resolve the sovereign debt crisis and put to rest doubts about the region’s unity and viability.
Her comments come at a time when the spiralling European debt turmoil is threatening to derail the fragile global economic growth.
Ms Merkel noted that while Germany strongly supports the single European currency (euro), the country is not prepared to make any guarantees.
“It is not that we don’t wish to show solidarity and have binding commitments. But what we don’t want is to promise something that we can’t fulfil,” she said.
The debt crisis has raised concerns about the viability of the euro — a currency that is shared by 17 nations.
At the core of the crisis are weaknesses in the competitiveness of many European countries and deficits that have accrued over the years, the German Chancellor pointed out.
“There is a clear lack of political structures and underpinnings to make this work... We are not going to become faint of heart. But we will not be able to wave a magic wand to address this. Yet at some point in time, we have to do something about these weaknesses,” she said.
Pitching for creation of more jobs in the region, Ms Merkel emphasised the need for structural reforms that would allow genuine labour mobility in Europe.
“Now we have to do something constructive. The question is do we dare to do so... We have to show that sustainable growth of Europe becomes a benchmark for global economy.
“We (in Europe) are no longer using excuses... otherwise we will lose reputation, over the next two years we will have more integration, we will need to create more jobs,” she said.
Ms Merkel said it is important to maintain the prosperity of Europe as a whole.
Noting that the Germany is going to participate in reducing the imbalances in the European Union area, Ms Merkel said Europe has an opportunity to prove that it can be a role model and play a major role in the global economy.