Topolánek met the President of the European Central Bank

The Czech Prime Minister and the President of the European Council, Mirek Topolánek, met with the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, in Berlin.

The Czech Prime Minister and the President of the European Council, Mirek Topolánek, met with the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, in Berlin. The meeting, attended by the Czech Finance Minister, Miroslav Kalousek, tackled the possibilities for restoring trust in the financial markets and for stimulating investments by European banks and corporations.

Topolánek, Trichet “We live in non-linear times – the classic economic models and theories cannot be applied, and future development cannot be foreseen”, stated Jean-Claude Trichet, adding that the absence of a clear forecast complicates any restoration of trust in free market mechanisms.

The Czech Presidency and the representatives of the European Central Bank also shared the view that excessive recapitalization of European banks by the Member States may result in their re-nationalization, and thus undermine the unity of the common market.

“Not another round of increasing national debt, but restoration of trust of both the consumer and the financial institutions can break the vicious circle of the European economy where lower investments reduce the demand for corporate lending”, said Mirek Topolánek after the meeting.

This was hardly the last meeting for the Czech Prime Minister and the Czech Finance Minister who are to meet the representatives of the European members of the G20, and, within bilateral meetings, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

contact:

Jiří František Potužník, Spokesman of the Prime Minister for the Czech EU Presidency
Tel.: +420 224 002 497; GSM: +420 725 818 435; E-mail: potuznik.jiri.frantisek@vlada.cz