French, German business leaders urge joint economic policy
2011-06-23 13:13:02
The European debt drama reflects a crisis of government and not the euro, with the answer to be found in "a European economic policy", nearly 50 top French and German business leaders said in the Wednesday edition of the Le Monde newspaper.
"The history of the euro is a true success ... there is no serious alternative to the common euro," the business leaders said in the paper dated Wednesday but published on Tuesday.
Among the 48 signatories were the heads of French oil group Total, airline Air France and technology group Alcatel-Lucent, PSA Peugot Citroen autos, Sanofi pharmaceuticals, and German Deutsche Bank and energy giant EON.
The 48 leaders said they represented total sales of about 1,500 billion euros (US$2,160 billion) and five million employees throughout the world.
They called for "a European economic policy and stricter rules for stability, in order to avoid further crises."
"The return to a stable financial situation will cost many billions of euros but the European Union and our common currency are worth it," they said.
"We must convince our fellow citizens of that."