Germany, France will not give up the euro

The leaders of Germany and France, in a joint statement, promised to do everything possible to preserve the single European currency and stop the dissolution of the bloc of 17 states.

To achieve this, they said, eurozone countries and European institutions "must fulfill their obligations, each within its area of competence. Merkel and Hollande stressed the need to "implement as soon as possible" the decisions made at the European Union summit in June. These decisions allow the European bailout fund - in agreement with independent banking supervisors - to give money directly to a country's banks, rather than through the government. Countries undergoing reforms as required by the European Union executive commission will also be able to receive financial aid without having to go through austerity measures - like Greece, Portugal and Ireland. European markets rose 0.7 percent after their announcement, with the FTSE 100 index rising 0.7 percent and Germany's DAX index rising 1.1 percent. In Spain, the main stock index IBEX rose 2.7 percent, while the interest rate on 10-year bonds - leading the market (showing confidence in the country's ability to manage its debts) - fell 6.73 percent. In Italy, the FTSE MIB stock index rose 2.7 percent, while the 10-year bond interest rate fell to 5.95 percent. Merkel and Hollande have not made any specific statements about the ECB's role in the recovery, but earlier on Friday, Merkel agreed with Draghi's suggestion that the ECB has the power to intervene to lower borrowing rates - possibly by buying government bonds.

Based on foreign press for ForTrader.org