Barosso pays tribute to 'steadfast determination' shown over debt deal
The President of the European Commission says he wants Ireland's legacy debt issues dealt with before we take over the Presidency of the EU on January 1.
Jose Manuel Barosso met the Taoiseach in Brussels today, with Enda Kenny pressing the case for the deal agreed at last June's leaders summit to be fully implemented.
That agreement was thrown into some doubt last week after a joint statement by the finance ministers of Germany, Holland and Finland which stated the ESM should not apply retrospectively to 'legacy' debt, but only to future bank debt.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso said he understood that real sacrifices were being made here, and added that delivering on the June deal was a matter of "credibility".
"I will make clear at the next European council meeting in October that we must stick to the commitments we made in June. This is a question of credibility for the European Union and all the member states in our union," he said.
"I would like to pay tribute to the steadfast determination shown by the Government and people of Ireland to complete the EU/IMF programme."
