President Obama said Monday that the United States is prepared to assist Europe in resolving its debt crisis, even as the White House insisted that the U.S. wouldn’t provide financial aid to shore up the region’s troubled economies.
“The United States stands ready to do our part to help them resolve this issue,” Obama said after meeting with European Union leaders for an annual summit at the White House. “This is of huge importance to our own economy. If Europe is contracting or if Europe is having difficulties, then it’s much more difficult for us to create good jobs here at home.”
To Obama, doing “our part” means offering advice and consultation, White House officials said.
“We continue to believe that this a European issue, that Europe has the resources and capacity to deal with it, and that they need to act decisively and conclusively to resolve this problem,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
He emphatically ruled out any financial assistance from the U.S.
“We do not in any way believe that additional resources are required from the United States and from American taxpayers,” he said.
While European Union leaders huddle with Obama at the White House, leaders in Europe on Monday were scrambling to preserve the euro and rescue their sinking economies.
The situation has grown so dire that European nations are seriously discussing turning over some of the control they have over their budgets to a central authority that would have regulatory powers. In theory, supporters of the proposal say, that central authority could prevent another fiscal meltdown like the one that struck Greece.
Some nations are hesitant to give any central agency such power, however, with critics saying it could lead to the creation of a “United States of Europe.” Others warn that it would take too long to create such a central authority and establish all of the regulations that would require.
Another proposal floated on Monday would pool resources from six of the European Union’s wealthiest nations to provide debt-ridden countries access to capital at lower interest rates.
Without taking a position on any proposal, the White House repeatedly urged the European Union to act swiftly in determining a way forward, with economists saying it will be a matter of weeks before the euro’s collapse becomes imminent and irreversible.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso offered little consolation in return, however, and instead urged patience.
“We are absolutely serious about the magnitude of the challenge, we understand the challenge,” Barroso said. “But you have to understand that sometimes some decisions take time.”
Also attending the White House meeting was European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission High Representative Catherine Ashton.
