The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Thomas Mirow, stressed the importance of combating the crisis by creating the right environment for sustainable growth and greater harmonisation of economic and financial policies. He also argued that the crisis is not simply a fiscal problem.

The EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) President Thomas Mirow stated in a conference held in Frankfurt that the debt crisis is global and a political issue. According to the President the only solution to solve the crisis lies in fostering growth and greater harmonisation of policies. He also stressed that the debt crisis is not a crisis of just a few isolated countries, it is a pan-European problem, indeed a global problem affecting the industrial world.

On the discussion on whether or not adding to the National laws a debt or deficit ceiling, Mr Mirow highlighted that it was not sufficient to work towards such convergence simply via numerical targets for debt or deficit ceilings. He added that there has to be an agreement not just on macro targets but on common rules, laws and institutional structures at the national level. In addition, he conceded that it was more difficult to agree on such common approaches than ‘on a few numbers’.

During the conference the EBRD President referred to the current discussion about the use of eurobond to address the debt problem. Among the proposals, there is a 'New Deal' suggested by the European Parliament which includes such eurobonds. He stressed it would be risky to undertake such a move in the middle of a crisis. He also added that eurobond issues would have to ensure that incentives for sound fiscal policies were strengthened not weakened.