Euro zone leaders are set to agree a competitiveness pact at a summit today as Portugal announced new spending cuts to try to restore confidence in its finances and leaders seek to draw a line under the region's debt crisis.
Germany lowered expectations for a major breakthrough at the summit, saying the best that can be hoped for is an agreement on competitiveness. Bigger decisions to tackle the crisis - such as whether to strengthen the euro zone bailout fund - will be handled at a summit later this month.
Enda Kenny, who is attending his first summit of EU heads of state as Taoiseach, is pushing for a lower interest rate on the bailout fund, but has has rebuffed German chancellor Angela Merkel's conditions on easing bailout terms.
On his way into the meeting Mr Kenny said he had a strong mandate from the Irish people.
"I've already made the case that I consider the common corporate tax base would have the same effect: this would be harmonisation of taxes through the back door,” he said.
Mr Kenny also said he was "looking forward to receiving" the results of stress tests on the State's banks, which will "help greatly to determine the level of support needed”.
He said the Commission was “very supportive” of Ireland’s case for a lower interest rate on the EU/IMF bailout.
Greece has already dismissed selling state-owned land to cut debt, her other prerequisite for reducing the cost of rescue loans.
Ahead of the meeting, the euro rose 0.2 per cent in Asia trading to $1.3817 after suffering its biggest one-day fall against the dollar in a month on Thursday on concerns about the euro zone's debt problems.
China offered its support to the region after ratings downgrades this week of Greece and Spain underlined fears of possible sovereign debt defaults.
"China has confidence in the euro zone," China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, told a news conference in Beijing. "Although some euro zone nations have hardships, we will vigorously support them in surmounting their present fiscal difficulties and improving their economies."
Germany's aim is to get the 17 euro zone states to enshrine EU rules on deficits and debt in national law - effectively making it illegal for any euro zone member to exceed fixed deficit and debt limits in the future.
The EU's Stability and Growth Pact sets a government deficit limit of 3 per cent of GDP and debt of 60 percent of GDP. Translating that into national laws would entail the adoption of a 'debt brake' similar to what German law requires.
"Euro area member states commit to translating EU fiscal rules as set out in the Stability and Growth Pact into national legislation," the latest draft of the agreement reads. Euro zone leaders are expected to sign up to it today.
"Member states will retain the choice of the specific national legal vehicle to be used, but will make sure that it has a sufficiently strong binding and durable nature (e.g. constitution or framework law)," the draft said.
If Germany and France can get the remaining euro zone members to sign up to the competitiveness pact - which also includes moves to gradually raise retirement ages and work towards a common corporate tax base - there is an expectation that Germany will agree to back a stronger bailout fund.
The European Financial Stability Facility, used to bail out Ireland, has an effective lending capacity of €250 billion , not its full €440 billion, because of guarantees needed to retain its triple-A credit rating.
Increasing the capacity will require German backing and all member states to increase their contributions or guarantees, not a straightforward task given popular opposition to bail outs. That debate will be taken up on March 24th, but its outcome may depend on how much backing Germany gets on Friday.
While Euro zone leaders will hail any agreement on competitiveness as a big step in tackling the debt crisis, analysts regard it as a sideline issue, saying it goes nowhere towards tackling the fundamental problem of bad banking debts and highly indebted sovereigns with poor growth prospects.
In that respect, today's summit merely clears the ground for a meeting on March 24th-25th, when a "comprehensive package" of measures leaders hope will draw a line under the crisis will be debated.
Additional reporting: Reuters, PA
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