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AP Dec 2, 4:18 AM ESTBERLIN (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel flatly rejected any quick-fix ideas to try to resolve the European financial crisis, telling lawmakers Friday that treaty changes and stricter controls were the only path forward - and that the process could take years.
Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are pushing for a reorganization of existing European Union regulations, which they is needed to prevent the eurozone from breaking apart.
In laying out to the lower house of Parliament plans she will take to a Dec. 9 EU summit in Brussels, Merkel insisted the 17 nations who use the euro currency need to take measures to restore market confidence. She added that eurozone financial regulations had been violated too frequently.
"The German government has made it clear that the European crisis will not be solved in one fell swoop..." she said. "It's a process, and this process will take years."
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Merkel Says Joint Euro Bonds Unthinkable as EU Faces Marathon.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel likened solving Europe’s debt crisis to a marathon, shunning investor calls for quick action while pushing for stricter budget enforcement and overhauling the region’s governance.
Addressing lawmakers in Berlin today before a Dec. 9 summit of European leaders, Merkel rejected joint euro-area bonds or trying to make the European Central Bank the lender of last resort as quick fixes. The ECB’s role is different from that of the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England, she said.
“Marathon runners often say that a marathon gets especially tough and strenuous after about 35 kilometers (22 miles),” Merkel told the lower house of parliament in a speech previewing the European Union summit. “But they also say you can last the whole course if you’re aware of the magnitude of the task from the start.”
Germany and France are leading the push for closer economic ties among euro nations and locking in tougher enforcement of budget rules to counter the debt crisis now in its third year. Merkel welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s “important” speech yesterday in which he warned that the euro region’s fissures threaten to blow the 17-nation shared currency apart. She is due to hold talks with the French leader in Paris on Dec. 5 to coordinate their approach to next week’s summit.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-02/merkel-says-joint-euro-bonds-unthinkable-as-eu-faces-debt-crisis-marathon.htmlI cannot associate this with Tuesday's declaration that there were 10 days left to sort this mess. That timeline was mention across Wednesday and Thursday too.