by Calculated Risk on 12/05/2010 07:02:00 PM

The European finance ministers meet this week in Brussels. Some ministers are pushing to increase the bailout fund and others are arguing for "E-bonds" - joint European government bonds. Although the key 10-year bond yields fell sharply last week (Ireland, Portugal, Spain), the crisis is far from over. A couple of articles:

From Stephen Castle at the NY Times: Pressure Rises to Bolster European Bailout Fund

European finance ministers are under mounting pressure to significantly increase the €750 billion rescue fund for the currency union when they meet Monday. ... Didier Reynders, the Belgian finance minister, suggested over the weekend that the fund ... will have to be increased when it is made permanent after 2013, and that it may make little sense to wait until then to do it.

From the Financial Times: Europe’s leaders at odds over bond plan

Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg’s prime minister who also chairs meetings of eurozone finance ministers, and Giulio Tremonti, Italy’s finance minister, argue in Monday’s Financial Times that the launch of “E-bonds” would send a clear message to financial markets and European citizens about the “the irreversibility of the euro”.
excerpt with permission

Good luck getting Germany on board.