French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel “expressed full confidence in President Monti and his government and reaffirmed their support for Italy, declaring themselves aware that a collapse of Italy would inevitably lead to the end of the euro, causing a stalemate in the process of European integration with unpredictable consequences". This is what can be read in a press release from the Italian Government released at the end of the cabinet.
For his part, Monti "reconfirmed his commitment to achieving the objectives established at European level (and in particular the balanced budget in 2013) - continues the press release -, clearly identifying a 'fair but incisive' structural reform program to be pursue with the consent of the social partners". The Council of Ministers "has launched the discussion to identify the operational path to be undertaken, in the shortest possible time, for the definition of the package of measures to be adopted".
