Europe News
Trichet to attend EU summit as euro fears roll on
Feb 9, 2010, 12:56 GMT
Brussels - The head of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, is to attend an informal European Union summit on Thursday, officials said Tuesday as concerns over the stability of the euro continued to grow.
The summit is scheduled to focus primarily on long-term economic planning, but Trichet's attendance indicates that the problems facing the euro in general and Greece in particular are likely to play a key role in discussions.
Trichet's attendance was confirmed by the spokesman of Herman Van Rompuy, the newly-appointed president of the Council of EU member states. The Thursday summit will be the first time Van Rompuy has chaired a meeting of the EU's 27 national leaders.
Greece has been facing enormous financing difficulties since the autumn, when the newly-elected Socialist government announced that its centre-right predecessor had massively understated its budget deficit.
In recent weeks, fears have spread in international money markets that other euro members - notably Portugal and Spain - may face similar difficulties. Those fears have led to growing speculation as to the stability of the euro itself.
In his invitation letter to EU national leaders on Monday, Van Rompuy said that discussion over the summit lunch would focus on 'some aspects of the present economic situation.'
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