Barroso says all available powers must be used

EU GOVERNMENTS should not rely on treaty change to help save the euro, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned in Brussels last night.

Instead it is necessary to use whatever powers are available to the EU, he said. “When putting out a fire you do not look to create better equipment but you use whatever is available...we must respond to this emergency,” he told a conference of the European People’s Party.

He will unveil ideas for deeper economic governance in the euro area to a sitting of the European Parliament next week and this may include proposals for treaty change, he said.