Merkel to meet Juncker ahead of EU summit, German parliament vote

Feb 24, 2012, 12:29 GMT

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to meet eurozone group President Jean-Claude Juncker Friday ahead of next week's key European leaders' summit and a vote in the parliament in Berlin on a 130-billion-euro (174.4-billion-dollar) bailout for debt-stricken Greece.

But in a letter to German lawmakers, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble declined to rule out further aid for debt-stricken Greece ahead of Monday's meeting of the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, where members are expected to sign off on a second bailout for Athens.

'There are no guarantees that the agreed path leads to success,' Schaeuble wrote. 'It is perhaps not the last time that the German Bundestag will need to address the question of financial assistance for Greece.'

The meeting between Merkel and Juncker, who represents euro member states, forms part of the build-up to next week's EU leaders summit in Brussels, which is to consider expanding the funds available under the eurozone's new rescue operation, the European Stability Mechanism Fund (ESM). The ESM is due to come into operation in July.

Berlin, which is the biggest eurozone contributor to the bailout fund, is under pressure to drop its opposition to boosting the planned 500-billion-euro ESM.

Germany is now essentially isolated in rejecting bolstering the ESM, with calls from across Europe and major international institutions to bolster the ESM's capacity to operate as a firewall to stop the eurozone's debt crisis.

However, Berlin appears reluctant to agree to consider expanding the ESM before the German parliament agrees to the 130-billion-euro rescue plan for Greece that finance ministers hammered out earlier this week.

Germany is one of three eurozone states where a euro bailout has to be considered by the parliament.

The parliaments in the other two nations - Finland and the Netherlands - are also expected to agree to the rescue package in the coming two weeks.

The Greek bailout is expected to pass the German parliament, with the opposition Social Democrats and the Greens backing the rescue plan.

But signs have already emerged that up to 14 members of Merkel's ruling centre-right coalition might vote against the bailout.

According to a survey of lawmakers conducted by the daily Rheinischen Post, 11 members of Merkel's conservative Christian Democrat bloc plan to vote against the rescue package, along with three from the junior coalition partner, the Free Democrats.

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