Governance, letter sent to Van Rompuy

The letter containing the proposals of France and Germany for the reform of the governance of the euro area, elaborated yesterday at the summit between President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel, was sent this morning to the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy. The text of the letter, released by the Elysee, contains the three key points listed yesterday in the press conference concluding the summit: the creation of a "government" for the euro area, which holds "regular meetings"; the "strengthening of the surveillance and integration of fiscal policies", in the form of an obligation to include a balance constraint in the 17 national constitutions; the “common proposal for a financial transaction tax”.