UPDATE 1-Eurogroup's Juncker regrets EU public discord

Published 12/15/2010, 01:07 PM
Updated 12/15/2010, 01:12 PM

* Governments should worry less about domestic appeal

* Juncker will raise euro bonds topic at summit

(Adds details, background)

BERLIN, Dec 15 (Reuters) - Previous EU summit decisions have given markets cause for turmoil, euro zone finance ministers' chairman Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted as saying, urging EU politicians to worry less about appealing to domestic audiences.

"Unfortunately there are dissonances in public," Juncker was quoted as telling the German Handelsblatt newspaper in an interview to be published in its Thursday edition.

Governments "should suppress the reflex to ask before each European agreement how it will go down at home."

The newspaper also quoted Juncker as saying EU summit decisions had "given cause for market turbulences".

It said Juncker would raise the topic of joint euro zone bonds at an EU meeting on Thursday and Friday but did not expect a decision on them.

Germany opposes the proposal, which would seek to use its high credit standing to raise funds jointly with weaker euro zone economies such as Portugal and Greece.

EU leaders meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for their end-of-year summit, with efforts to overcome the region's year-long debt crisis at the heart of their agenda.

As well as approving a change to the EU's treaty demanded by Germany to create a permanent system for handling crises from mid-2013, EU leaders will discuss how they can improve the current temporary financial safety net -- a 750 billion euro ($1 trillion) joint EU/IMF loan facility. (Reporting by Annika Breidthardt; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

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