'Spanje zal niet aankloppen bij EU voor hulp' (en)
The Second Vice President of the Spanish government and Minister of Economy and Finance, Elena Salgado, confirmed this Sunday that the Economy and Finance Ministers are meeting in Brussels to “defend the euro” and added that Spain was not planning to resort to the emergency fund, which the EU i-27 are studying with the aim of recuperating financial stability in the eurozone.
On her arrival at the European Council headquarters, Elena Salgado expressed her confidence that the European ministers could set in motion the measures requested on Friday by the Eurogroup leaders.
When asked whether the reservations expressed by the United Kingdom could be overcome, Salgado replied that “I hope that Ecofin i will go well and that we will be able to put into practice everything the heads of state and government leaders recommended last Friday", and she added "I don't want to comment on specific countries".
Nor did she wish to provide details on the characteristics or the total cost of the stabilisation mechanism which the Ecofin Council is examining this Sunday.
The European Commission met before the start of Ecofin, with the aim of drawing up a document that includes the details of last Friday's debate by the Eurogroup.
"We are waiting for the European Commission's document, and that is where we will find the details", she added.
Asked about the possibility of Spain resorting to the European Fund, the Vice President declared that "Spain is not planning to make use of this fund" and stressed that the ministers are meeting to "defend the euro".
"We need to give our currency more stability and we will do whatever is necessary to achieve that", declared the Spanish Vice President, who insisted that this is the same message that the eurozone leaders gave on Friday.