The head of the European Central Bank called on euro zone leaders today to speak with one voice in the debt crisis, while defending German Chancellor Angela Merkel against accusations of foot-dragging. 'There is an absolute need to improve 'verbal discipline', Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview with the Financial Times Deutschland, a transcript of which was released by the ECB.
'The governments need to speak with one voice on such complex and sensitive issues as the crisis,' he said, while acknowledging that having 17 different governments made things 'complex'. 'But speaking with one voice in a period of crisis is of the essence,' he added. The Frenchman also defended Merkel against criticism that she, as the leader of Europe's biggest economy, had acted too slowly throughout the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis and had made matters worse. 'Not in the least,' Trichet said. 'I would see a discussion of this kind as being completely misplaced in the current situation. Merkel had said yesterday that she would attend a summit of euro zone leaders in Brussels on Thursday - announced by EU president Herman Van Rompuy - to agree a new Greek rescue package only if there were a prospect of a concrete deal. Today, Merkel's spokesman said that she was 'confident' a euro zone summit will take place this week and that it will send a 'strong signal to markets' that the euro can survive its biggest test to date. 'The government is working on all levels with all its strength on preparing for Thursday a good result, a decent result, a result that sends out a strong, and clear signal to the markets,' Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert said. 'Confident that this will be possible, the chancellor is planning her trip to Brussels,' he told a regular government briefing in Berlin.