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7:02am UK, Tuesday December 06, 2011
The eurozone debt crisis has deepened with Germany, France and 13 other members of the single currency being placed on "credit watch".
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's move means six countries with AAA ratings would have a 50% chance of seeing their ratings downgraded. The only two not named were Cyprus, which was already under review, and Greece, which holds the world's worst rating. The bombshell came as eurozone leaders frantically tried to prevent the break-up of the single currency and restore stability after weeks of mounting crisis. After emergency talks in Paris on Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel renewed calls for an EU Treaty change to solve the single currency crisis.
They said they wanted change to be carried out by all 27 member states if possible - or at least the 17 eurozone countries. The aim would be to allow far tougher rules and sanctions governing the eurozone in future to reassure markets about the euro's long-term stability. The talks marked the start of a week of intense efforts to settle a eurozone stability deal to convince markets once and for all that the single currency can survive the current economic turmoil.
The key plan is to toughen eurozone checks and balances - something lawyers say will need treaty change. The move towards treaty changes prompted fresh difficulties for Prime Minister David Cameron as eurosceptic Tories stepped up calls for a referendum on the European Union. Downing Street insisted that the scale of the proposal - to be put to an EU summit later this week - did not amount to change warranting a referendum in the UK.
But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith sided with the eurosceptic right in the Conservatives by suggesting that the impact from any treaty change would demand a national vote. "The Prime Minister has always been clear, if there are substantial changes that affect Britain's position, then he would go for a referendum because that's what we said to the British public we would do," said Mr Duncan Smith.
Mr Cameron, who will attend a meeting of the European Council in Brussels later this week, insisted nothing had changed to justify such a move. "Clearly, there are negotiations going on in Europe. I will be part of those negotiations on Thursday and Friday," he said. "If there is a treaty at the level of 27, and if that passed powers from Britain to Brussels, there would be a referendum. "We have legislated now so that it is impossible for a British government to pass power from Britain to Brussels without asking the British people in a referendum first."
http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16124447
More news to come soon as this story unfolds. The effects may be devastating to the world economy and Singapore will definitely feel the aftermath.:(
The eurozone debt crisis has deepened with Germany, France and 13 other members of the single currency being placed on "credit watch".
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's move means six countries with AAA ratings would have a 50% chance of seeing their ratings downgraded. The only two not named were Cyprus, which was already under review, and Greece, which holds the world's worst rating. The bombshell came as eurozone leaders frantically tried to prevent the break-up of the single currency and restore stability after weeks of mounting crisis. After emergency talks in Paris on Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel renewed calls for an EU Treaty change to solve the single currency crisis.
They said they wanted change to be carried out by all 27 member states if possible - or at least the 17 eurozone countries. The aim would be to allow far tougher rules and sanctions governing the eurozone in future to reassure markets about the euro's long-term stability. The talks marked the start of a week of intense efforts to settle a eurozone stability deal to convince markets once and for all that the single currency can survive the current economic turmoil.
The key plan is to toughen eurozone checks and balances - something lawyers say will need treaty change. The move towards treaty changes prompted fresh difficulties for Prime Minister David Cameron as eurosceptic Tories stepped up calls for a referendum on the European Union. Downing Street insisted that the scale of the proposal - to be put to an EU summit later this week - did not amount to change warranting a referendum in the UK.
But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith sided with the eurosceptic right in the Conservatives by suggesting that the impact from any treaty change would demand a national vote. "The Prime Minister has always been clear, if there are substantial changes that affect Britain's position, then he would go for a referendum because that's what we said to the British public we would do," said Mr Duncan Smith.
Mr Cameron, who will attend a meeting of the European Council in Brussels later this week, insisted nothing had changed to justify such a move. "Clearly, there are negotiations going on in Europe. I will be part of those negotiations on Thursday and Friday," he said. "If there is a treaty at the level of 27, and if that passed powers from Britain to Brussels, there would be a referendum. "We have legislated now so that it is impossible for a British government to pass power from Britain to Brussels without asking the British people in a referendum first."
http://news.sky.com/home/business/article/16124447
More news to come soon as this story unfolds. The effects may be devastating to the world economy and Singapore will definitely feel the aftermath.:(
