ECB and EU working on secret plan to save Europe

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the EU, according to the German weekly Welt Am Sonntag, are working on a secret plan for a ''new Europe'' to strengthen the euro and show the world that the European Union, after two years of crisis, is on the right track. The eurozone leaders have asked ECB chairman Mario Draghi and other European leaders to draft a 'masterplan', which should be ready by the end of this month. Apart from Draghi, European Commission chairman José Manuel Barroso, Euro Group President Jean-Claude Juncker and the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, are working on the plan. Van Rompuy will present the plan's ''key elements'' at the EU summit by the end of June, aiming to make these elements part of the summit's final statement. By the end of the year, the EU State and government leaders should reach an agreement on a roadmap, a potentially ''revolutionary'' document according to the weekly. The project focuses on four main areas: joint structural reforms, integrated budget policies, banking union and political union. This could be a crucial month for the European Union, during which Italian Premier Mario Monti faces important deadlines, starting with a special cabinet meeting - perhaps on Wednesday - to launch a plan for growth. Growth also forms the heart of EU policies. It is no coincident, Welt Am Sonntag underlines, that the masterplan will not be presented as more austerity measures, but as a set of measures meant to boost economic development. Last Saturday it became evident that the European Commission will take another step towards a banking union on Wednesday, when it will approve a directive that should pave the way for the EU's bank-bailout mechanism. But this appears to be just one of the moves the EU members are considering to have a long-term answer to the crisis. Today the French finance minister will hold talks in Brussels with EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn and Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. The EC has not released any information about the meeting, but it may focus on the G20 meeting on June 18-19. Meanwhile, the crisis in Spain remains on the foreground, with Germany insisting on aid and Premier Mariano Rajoy continuing to say that Spain needs no help. On Thursday the Spanish State will hold an auction of 2-year, 4-year and 10-year bonds. Italian Premier Mario Monti is preparing for what could be the most difficult month for his government. Apart from the G20 meeting in Mexico, Monti will be in Brussels on June 28 for the presentation of the European Union masterplan to all member states, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel who keeps opposing the Eurobonds. Before the meeting in Brussels, Monti will hold a summit in Rome on June 22 with Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and Mariano Rajoy.(ANSAmed).