Schaeuble Says Euro Fund Needs More Work to Spur Confidence

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said that European governments are struggling to enact a pledge to beef up the euro rescue fund, as he called for fast-track treaty changes to tighten budget discipline as the key to calming markets.

The European Financial Stability Facility recently paid a higher rate of interest on debt than France or the other AAA rated countries that guarantee the EFSF, underscoring the “crisis of confidence” in the euro area, Schaeuble said in an interview with ARD television in Berlin. The “decisive” answer remains budget discipline enforced by means of European Union treaty change, he said.