Monti to host Hollande for eurozone talks in Rome

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti hosts French President Francois Hollande Tuesday in the latest round of shuttle diplomacy talks over the debt crisis ahead of a European Central Bank policy meeting. Hollande and Monti will "restate their will to be actively involved in the implementation of the measures adopted" at the European summit in June to preserve "the integrity of the eurozone," French government sources said. The meeting, one of several this week between European leaders, comes amid expectations that the ECB might on Thursday announce a new round of sovereign bond purchases to ease borrowing costs for struggling countries. While sources said Monti and Hollande were unlikely publicly to comment on possible ECB intervention at the press conference scheduled for 1330 GMT, their talks would focus on how to handle the latest developments in the eurozone economic crisis. With Spain's plight once again at the forefront of the three-year crisis and Greek leaders scrambing to unlock crucial loans, the pressure might rise again on Italy to reassure investors that it will not become the next victim. Hollande and Monti are also likely to discuss a German Constitutional Court ruling due on September 12, on legal challenges to the eurozone's future rescue fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The challenges have held up the fund's ratification, along with a fiscal pact for tighter budgetary rigour. They could also talk about a plan to reinforce the economic and monetary union by putting a banking supervision plan into place by the end of 2012.