EU prepares for 'new stage' in economic union | EurActiv

A great public display of disagreement between the French (Eurobonds now) and German (Eurobonds only after fiscal union) positions is the result of the summit held on May 23. But while they are far apart, both France and Germany want further, deeper integration. The seem to be arguing over the chronology, not the direction.

From EurActiv.com's report of the summit:

The European Central Bank's President Mario Draghi was on the same page. Issuing jointly backed European debt would not make sense until the euro zone reaches some kind of fiscal union, he said after the EU leaders meeting. 

"Euro bonds make sense when you have a fiscal union, otherwise they don't make sense," Draghi told reporters in Brussels. 

Asked later by EurActiv if some kind of central EU finance ministry would be considered, Van Rompuy did not dismiss the idea but said it was just one among a number of options being discussed.

And the German position:

Germany’s European Central Bank executive board member, Jörg Asmussen, said ahead of the summit that the euro zone should be backed by “a fiscal union and banking union as well as a democratic legitimised political union”.

EU prepares for 'new stage' in economic union | EurActiv