Faymann meets Merkel and Socrates
Austrian Social Democratic (SPÖ) Chancellor Werner Faymann met political leaders from Germany and Portugal in Berlin today (Weds).Faymann gathered with German Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Chancellor Angela Merkel and Portuguese Socialist Party Prime Minister Jose Socrates in the German capital to speak about topics which will be debated at the upcoming Eurozone meeting.The term Eurozone describes the 17 European Union (EU) members which use the Euro as their currency. Leaders of the countries will meet in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss measures set to stabilise the groups competitiveness and economic strength on 11 March.A poll by Karmasin found in February that 49 per cent of Austrians think the federal government formed by the SPÖ and the conservative Peoples Party (ÖVP) of Finance Minister Josef Pröll must not pull out from the 750-billion-Euro European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), even if Austria is ordered to pay more. Forty-two per cent told the research group, the coalition should stop participating if that were to be the case.The SPÖ-ÖVP administration agreed last year to contribute 12.24 billion Euros in liabilities to stabilise struggling Eurozone member states.