BRUSSELS, Jun 29, 2012 (AFP) - Eurozone leaders agreed early Friday to work towards a tighter economic and monetary union through more centralised budget oversight to protect their single currency from future crises.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy announced after marathon talks in Brussels that leaders tasked him and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to present a report in October outlining the long-term strategy.
"It will be quite a job to get this ready before the end of October but the (European) Council wants us to speed up the work," said Van Rompuy, who presented an initial report to European Union leaders on Thursday.
His report set out "four essential building blocks" for a closer union, including a banking union, joint budgetary decisions, deeper economic integration and a strengthening of "democratic accountability."
"It was extremely important that we agreed not on the report itself but on a clear vision about what has to be done," Van Rompuy said. "The aim is of course to make the euro an irreversible project."
Van Rompuy still has some convincing to do.
French President Francois Hollande sees integration going hand-in-hand with the pooling of debt, an idea opposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
"There cannot be a transfer of sovereignty if there is no solidarity," Hollande told reporters.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said he believed the agreement opens the door to so-called eurobonds.
lth/ric/boc
