would set up a euro zone budget to boost investment in the bloc. also agree to plans to turn the european stability mechanism into a monetary fund to help isolate the euro from future crisis however merkel warned that moves toward greater integration can only occur when banks have reduced risk in the financial sector so this is what they were talking about and i would like to discuss this now with our european union correspondent bob these are who joins us in brussels and it s often entre market correspondent who joins us in frankfurt hello to both of you so bob but i d like to start with you is this the kind of reform the euro zone needs and will the other seventeen euro zone members agree to that. it is probably monica a first step and it is largely we need to emphasize that symbolic step because i m going market had to give something some sort of success to. who had really stayed
useful for the other european partners so this would actually drive their euro zone members apart from the rest of the european union just explain to me on a date why the germans don t want to share the liability of that i know the germans are like that or they do like helping out other countries we ve seen that in greece why not help out on this level it s a completely different level sure but isn t it just the fact that germans just don t like that you know because it s even not in the interest of there are currently heavily indebted countries look at italy italy has a problem with its own transfer union between the north and the solve and the south is now a net. recipient of transfers for decades so it does not really help the development the economic progress in the currently distressed countries if you just there come up with a debt equalization scheme that is now proposed again it s important to see it s
but think about your heart. 2% has over half the saturated fat of whole milk. want to cut back on fat and not compromisen taste? try smart balance fat free milk. it s what you d expect from the folks at smart balance. bret: checking international news. greece s private creditors say the country s prime minister will soon brief euro zone members on detail of a debt reduction deal. thousands protested today in athens after the government said it was slash 15,000 civil service jobs. egyptian officials canceled meetings scheduled today with american lawmakers. u.s. is threatening to cut off
they got their fiscal house in order. euro zone leaders wanted a treaty change signed by up a27 eu nations. at 5:00 a.m. in brussels, a weary nicolas sarkozy confirmed that britain was not playing ball. translator: david cameron requested something which we all considered unacceptable, namely that there be a protocol written into the treaty which enabled the uk to opt out of a certain number of rules applying to financial services. we re not able to accept that. we consider quite the contrary. so the 17 euro zone members along with 6 others in favor must now press on with what s being called an intergovernmental agreement. their goals, well, to introduce binding control on the budgets of those 17 countries, also to implement a new fund known as the european stability mechanism capped at 500 billion euros by july. to lend a further 200 billion euros to the imf with a view to supporting nations in need. and already the ecb s guidance to steer the current bailout fund, the e
greece passes next year s budget. it is packed with tax increases and spending cuts which are required to secure bailout funds. the budget cuts, the deficit pushes the deficit to 5.24 gdp, down from 9%. ahead of the u.s. 2012 election campaign, u.s. president barack obama says the middle class needs to step up to the plate. he called for more taxes on the wealthy. those are the top stories from cnn, i m monita rajpal. world business today starts right now. hello and welcome to your wednesday edition of world business today. i m andrew stevens in hong kong. i m nina dos santos in london. these are the top stories today. adding more fire power to the bailout fund. anticipation builds for lasting in europe ahead of the crucial summit. india shelves plans to open up its supermarket sector. and the immaculate rejection, ebay auction for a date with the virgin mary. this very wednesday word is out that they re ready to use all they can to add to their arsenal in