FRANKFURT/BERLIN, Aug 1 (Reuters) – The United States raised
pressure on euro zone leaders to take decisive action to solve
the region’s debt crisis, notably by lowering troubled members’
borrowing costs, on the eve of a crucial European Central Bank
meeting.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the euro zone
must take steps including “bringing down interest rates in the
countries that are reforming and making sure those banking
systems can provide the credit those economies need”.

MUNKMARSCH, Germany, July 30 (Reuters) – German Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and U.S. counterpart Timothy
Geithner said on Monday they were confident the countries of the
euro zone would implement reforms needed to overcome their
sovereign debt crisis.

In a statement issued after talks on a blustery German
island in the North Sea where Schaeuble is holidaying, the two
men said their countries would cooperate closely to stabilise
the global and European economies.

MUNKMARSCH, Germany, July 30 (Reuters) – Germany’s Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble interrupted his summer holiday on a
remote North Sea island on Monday to brief his U.S. counterpart
on latest developments in the euro zone crisis.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and his aides arrived in
three black limousines at an elegant hotel on the German island
of Sylt, a favourite destination for wealthy Germans.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Around half of Germans are prepared to give up some national powers to Brussels in the pursuit of a common European Union financial policy, according to a poll by Emnid for the German magazine Focus.

Some 49 percent of the 1,000 Germans surveyed for the poll supported handing over more power to the EU, in line with the closer European fiscal and political union championed by Chancellor Angela Merkel. Some 44 percent were opposed.

LOS CABOS, Mexico (Reuters) – World leaders were set to pile pressure on Europe at a G20 summit on Monday to outline a lasting strategy to save the euro currency after a victory for pro-bailout parties in a Greek election failed to calm financial markets.

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke with European leaders after the Greek vote and requested a meeting with them on Monday evening, underscoring the extent of concern in Washington that the euro crisis could deepen, infecting the fragile U.S. economy only months before an election.

BERLIN (Reuters) – In early October of last year, German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler landed in Athens on a plane packed full of corporate executives, carrying a message of hope.

Germany and its leading firms, the young minister told Greek leaders, stood ready to help Greece overcome the debt crisis that had plunged its economy into recession and pushed it to the brink of its second EU/IMF rescue in little more than a year.

BERLIN, June 14 (Reuters) – In early October of last year,
German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler landed in Athens on a
plane packed full of corporate executives, carrying a message of
hope.

Germany and its leading firms, the young minister told Greek
leaders, stood ready to help Greece overcome the debt crisis
that had plunged its economy into recession and pushed it to the
brink of its second EU/IMF rescue in little more than a year.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Group of 20 leaders meeting in Mexico next week to discuss the state of the global economy should not focus exclusively on problems in the euro zone but also talk about the strained U.S. budget and Chinese currency, German officials said on Tuesday.

The summit in Los Cabos on June 18-19 seems likely to be overshadowed by the woes of Europe’s single currency bloc, coming a week after Spain announced plans to seek EU aid for its banks and a day after Greece holds a pivotal election.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s government and the main opposition party agreed the outlines of a European financial transaction tax on Thursday, potentially opening the way for parliament to approve a fiscal pact and permanent rescue scheme for the euro zone.

The center-left Social Democrats (SPD) have linked progress on the tax as well as growth-boosting measures to their approval for the pact and for the euro bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Merkel needs their backing to get the required two-thirds majority in parliament.

BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s plan
to replace nuclear power with renewable sources could fail
unless Germany’s federal states pool responsibility for the
construction of a national grid, the head of the power network
regulator said on Tuesday.

The Bundesnetzagentur has offered to take national
responsibility for the grid which crosses borders between the
16 states in Europe’s biggest national power market.