Title:
EU Officials Urge Tighter Fiscal Rules for Euro
Countries
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Economics Report.
See text below
Text:
On November thirtieth, the European Central Bank
took action to support the worldwide financial
system. Central banks in Britain, Canada, Japan,
Switzerland and the United States also acted. The
banks made it less costly for other countries to
borrow American dollars. The United States Federal
Reserve said the joint effort was meant to help
central banks in Europe provide financial support to
nations that need it. The action sent American stock
prices up more than three percent. On December
first, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi
suggested that the ECB may provide new financial
support for European countries struggling with debt.
But first, he said, euro area countries must
establish trust by enacting big financial reforms.
He said: "A credible signal is needed to give
ultimate assurance over the short term. What I
believe our economic and monetary union needs is a
new fiscal compact, a fundamental restatement of the
fiscal rules together with the mutual fiscal
commitments that euro area governments have made.
Seventeen members of the European Union share the
euro currency. Concern over its future has been
building in recent years. The Greek debt crisis,
rescue loans for Ireland and Portugal and worries
over Italy's debt have all increased fears that
Europe may have to abandon the euro. The euro is the
world's second most traded and second most used
reserve currency after the dollar. European finance
ministers failed to agree in November on a plan to
provide economic support for debt-troubled
countries. Financial officials say a lack of
economic and financial cooperation is at the heart
of the two-year-old debt crisis. Dutch Finance
Minister Jan Kees de Jager said there is a strong
need for tougher rules: "Lack of economic reforms
and lack of fiscal discipline has brought us into
this crisis. So you also have to address these
fundamental issues." That means euro nations may
have to surrender some power over their budgets to
the European Union. For VOA Special English, I'm
Carolyn Presutti. We have more programs at
voaspecialenglish.com, where people can read, listen
and learn English with texts, MP3s and activities.
We also offer English lessons at the VOA Learning
English page on Facebook.
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personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
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is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
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