Euro zone finance ministers' meeting

SPAIN ECONOMY MINISTER ELENA SALGADO

On euro zone stability mechanism:

I think the plan we approved last week is sufficient, I think it's credible and I think financial markets are in a state of high volatility and we need to accept that that's the way it is.

We need to work on the Stability and Growth Pact, on the economic task force, we need to coordinate our economic policies and show a clear willingness to reduce deficits and the public debt.

FINNISH FINANCE MINISTER JYRKI KATAINEN

On public finances:

The goal is the same for everybody.

Limits or rules must be in the constitution, it's the way to do things. It's really ambitious. But I'm not that sure if everybody is ready to do the same. But the overall law is the same for everybody. For instance, in our case, in the Finnish case, we should get rid of the deficit, or we should have a surplus.

Constitutional limits are only an instrument, we shouldn't pay too much attention to instruments. But it's a good start for the debate. A few months ago I heard that there were a few countries that were thinking something similar as they have done in Germany.

We have some time to put our public finances in order again. The problems are still there and everybody knows what the problem is, it's huge debt in the national context ... and now hopefully we have bought some time to put things in order again.