The European Council,
Expresses the need to further strengthen the Euro as the common European currency and further stresses the importance of the principles of solidarity and transparency, in particular in times of crisis;
Condemns international speculation against the Euro with a view to protecting the financial integrity of the individual Member States and preventing the turmoil in one Member State from endangering the entire European Union;
Expresses its willingness to continue the process of integrating all members of the European Union into the European Monetary Union after a period of adaptation which is to be determined by the ECOFIN on a case-by-case basis;
Recognizes the importance of enforcement of Maastricht Treaty obligations during EMU membership;
Invites the Member States to establish a European Monetary Fund (EMF) in order to react effectively on current and future financial crises;
Supports the idea of introducing a financial transactions tax which will serve as basis for the funding of the EMF;
Acknowledges the significance of establishing an independent European rating agency in order to improve the monitoring process for Member States and thereby counterbalancing the influence of existing rating agencies;
Urges the European Central Bank to purchase the governments bonds of the European member states when necessary, leaving the specific assessment to ECOFIN.
