Merkel to hold raft of talks before euro summit

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will host several top EU leaders next week, her spokesman said yesterday, ahead of a January 30 summit to tackle the euro debt crisis and try to boost the bloc’s economy.

Mrs Merkel will hold talks with IMF chief Christine Lagarde tomorrow evening, Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo on Monday afternoon and European Commission head José Manuel Barroso and EU chief Herman van Rompuy later.

On Thursday, she is due to host Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy for more preparatory talks, spokesman Steffen Seibert said.

“The two leaders will discuss bilateral relations, economic and European issues, as well as current international topics,” Mr Seibert said.

He also dismissed appeals for Germany to boost its contributions to the EU’s bailout funds.

“We have no doubt that the EFSF, for example, has the means necessary to fulfil its current obligations,” Mr Seibert told a regular news conference. “If the ESM is brought forward, in the summer of this year, it will be another fund with another capital structure and that will also of course be in a position to fulfil the necessary tasks,” he added.

The permanent ESM (European Stability Mechanism) is slated to replace the European Financial Stability Facility in July.

Mr Seibert also said that negotiations over the EU’s fiscal pact, which aims to toughen budgetary rules in response to the debt crisis, were being carried out in a “constructive atmosphere” and was hopeful an accord could be signed soon.

“Of course, not all remaining questions have been answered – that is normal at this stage – but the federal government is confident we will succeed by the end of January and that we will have the hoped-for ambitious result,” he said.