Sovereign Debt Writedowns Draw Closer in Franco-German Plan

France and Germany want to make it easier to restructure bonds of euro-area nations that get into trouble.

A joint proposal, released Tuesday, envisages the start of talks on strengthening collective action clauses, which have been mandatory for sovereign bonds issued by euro-area states since 2013. The new procedure would kick in when a member of the currency bloc seeks financial assistance from its crisis-fighting fund.