The European Union had hoped to come to a meeting of the Group of 20 large economies here with a grand plan to rescue the euro zone from its debt crisis, and to leave with the firm support of its international peers.
Instead, Europe emerged Friday from the two-day Group of 20 industrial and developing nations summit with precious little to show.
No G-20 country committed to help seed the euro zone's bailout fund, and the nations resolved only to continue talking about providing additional firepower through the International Monetary Fund.
One small step emerged: Italy, the focus of substantial worries in European debt markets, agreed to permit the IMF to monitor its progress with fiscal reforms.
IMF inspectors will head shortly to Italy and will report regularly on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's efforts to reduce Italy's huge debt burden, which is second only to Greece's in the euro zone.
Last week, the EU assembled a "comprehensive plan" to stem the debt crisis. It comprised efforts to recapitalize European banks, a new bailout program from Greece and an increase in the capacity of the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
But Greece's political crisis—Prime Minister George Papandreou called a public referendum on the bailout, then withdrew it and faces a no-confidence vote Friday—has shaken the plan.
Importantly, the plan called for the EFSF to be enhanced through parallel investments from countries outside of the euro-zone, and the two-day summit in this Mediterranean resort city was an ideal opportunity for Europe to make its pitch. But no one bit.
Instead, Europe emerged Friday from the two-day Group of 20 industrial and developing nations summit with precious little to show.
No G-20 country committed to help seed the euro zone's bailout fund, and the nations resolved only to continue talking about providing additional firepower through the International Monetary Fund.
One small step emerged: Italy, the focus of substantial worries in European debt markets, agreed to permit the IMF to monitor its progress with fiscal reforms.
IMF inspectors will head shortly to Italy and will report regularly on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's efforts to reduce Italy's huge debt burden, which is second only to Greece's in the euro zone.
Last week, the EU assembled a "comprehensive plan" to stem the debt crisis. It comprised efforts to recapitalize European banks, a new bailout program from Greece and an increase in the capacity of the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
But Greece's political crisis—Prime Minister George Papandreou called a public referendum on the bailout, then withdrew it and faces a no-confidence vote Friday—has shaken the plan.
Importantly, the plan called for the EFSF to be enhanced through parallel investments from countries outside of the euro-zone, and the two-day summit in this Mediterranean resort city was an ideal opportunity for Europe to make its pitch. But no one bit.
"There are hardly any countries that have said already they will cooperate with the EFSF," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday. She added that "several" had made inquiries. A senior U.S. official said Europe needed to deliver a plan with more "force and clarity."
On the IMF, the G-20 leaders said in their concluding statement that they'd explore three ways of giving it a greater ability to fight crises such as the one in Europe, among them issuing new chunks of its special notional currency. But there are objections from several key countries to some of the plans and those talks weren't resolved in Cannes.
WSJ news
On the IMF, the G-20 leaders said in their concluding statement that they'd explore three ways of giving it a greater ability to fight crises such as the one in Europe, among them issuing new chunks of its special notional currency. But there are objections from several key countries to some of the plans and those talks weren't resolved in Cannes.
WSJ news
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