Financial incentives to help eurozone push reform

Northern eurozone countries may seek to use financial incentives to push nations in the rest of the region to adopt economic policies they say are needed to shake off the legacy of the sovereign-debt crisis.

Countries that agree to implement improvements in areas such as education, the labour market, and the judicial system would get loans or grants in return, under plans discussed by EU leaders in Brussels yesterday.

With finance ministers reaching agreement on Wednesday on how to deal with failing banks, the idea to tie countries to economic reforms is seen as the next step to harmonise policy across the eurozone.