Trichet calls for stronger economic governance in Europe

AFP - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet cited US fou

European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet called Saturday for Europe to hold a united position on refomin the International Monetary Fund."I would urge the Europeans to have a united position," Trichet said when asked about the possibility of cutting the number of EU seats at the IMF.Speaking at a press conference at the Forum Ambrosetti, a political and economic gathering in northern Italy, Trichet said a common EU position on IMF reform is "very important for global governance".

European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet cited US founding father Alexander Hamilton on Friday in calling for stronger economic governance for the crisis-hit eurozone."We should ourselves 'learn to think (more) continentally'," Trichet told a Frankfurt conference of analysts and other ECB observers, quoting Hamilton, who established the first US national bank.

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European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet on Tuesday called on European governments, notably Italy and Spain, to "do their duty" in reducing public deficits and stabilising their finances."In sum, since the fall of Lehman Brothers, this is the worst crisis since the Second World War," Trichet warned on Europe 1 radio, referring to the collapse of the US investment bank in September 2008 that triggered a global financial crisis.In this context "we expect governments to do what we consider to be their work, their duty," Trichet said.

Eurozone finance ministers named Italy's Mario Draghi on Monday as their chosen successor to head the European Central Bank come October, Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker announced."We unanimously designated Mario Draghi to succeed Jean-Claude Trichet," Juncker said at a news conference. "Mario Draghi will be the new president of the ECB."Juncker said the Italian had both "an excellent international and European reputation" to take the helm of the Frankfurt-based bank."He has proven he is strongly attached to the euro" as well as to the European Union, he added.

Edward Hugh submits: ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet was in rather optimistic, one might even say jovial, mood at the press conference which followed this week's central bank rate-setting meeting. Second-quarter GDP growth in the 16-nation euro zone would prove "really exceptional," he stated, while the July bank stress tests marked “an important step forward in restoring market confidence.”