Italy's prime minister Mario Monti will travel to Berlin
"in the second half of August" to hold talks with German Chancellor Angela
Merkel following a joint pledge to protect the eurozone, according to German
government spokesman Georg Streiter.
Monti and Merkel in a phone conversation on Sunday "agreed that Germany
and Italy will do everything to protect the euro area," and that the European
Union's summit conclusions last month must be implemented "as quickly as
possible" Streiter said in an e-mailed statement received by Bloomberg news.
European stocks rose to their highest level since April amid optimism the
European Central Bank will win support from policy makers for a plan to ease
the euro area's debt crisis.
ECB President Mario Draghi proposes using the euro area's temporary
rescue fund to buy government bonds on the primary market, while the ECB
purchases securities on the secondary market to ensure the transmission of its
record-low interest rates, two central bank officials said Friday on condition
of anonymity.
EU leaders last month agreed to allow the bloc's bailout funds to inject
capital directly into struggling banks rather than channelling funds through
government, a move aimed at helping Spain's struggling lenders.
