Schaeuble Tells Handelsblatt Fiscal Union Comes Before Euro Bond

The euro region needs “a real fiscal union” before the topic of joint debt management can be broached, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with Handelsblatt.

Shared liability for national debt in the currency union and lower refinancing costs would lessen the pressure to change economic and fiscal policies, Schaeuble was cited as saying. A fiscal union in the region is a medium-term project, he said.

Plans for a banking union in Europe, as proposed by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, include a possible network of national bank restructuring facilities, Schaeuble said in the interview.

Germany supports the introduction of a financial market tax that’s based on stamp duties in the U.K. and France with as many participants as possible and which also includes derivatives, Handelsblatt cited the finance minister as saying. High- frequency trading should be curbed through tighter regulation, he is quoted as saying.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net