HispanicBusiness

European leaders said eurozone-wide bonds would be in discussion at a summit this week, but an agreement on the topic appears unlikely.

France's newly elected President Francois Hollande has said he would pursue the issue at an informal summit scheduled for Wednesday, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

He also said, "I will not be alone in proposing them."

While the idea has support in Italy and Spain, German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, one of the principal supporters of austerity budget policies for the eurozone, is decidedly against the euro-bond idea.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble said, "We will take part in discussions about all constructive ideas to support sustainable growth."

"It will all be discussed on Wednesday," he said after a meeting with his newly appointed French counterpart Pierre Moscovici.

Steffen Kampeter, who works for Schauble, said in a radio interview recently that euro bonds were "a prescription at the wrong time with the wrong side effects."