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US prods eurozone leaders after central banks act

Wroclaw, Poland - The United States on Friday warned Europe of "catastrophic risks" to financial markets for the failure to quickly contain the debt crisis euro area, in the debate on how to proceed.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble strongly disagrees with a call to boost U.S. funding for emergency running headlong into a European demand for Washington to tax on financial transactions.

"We're not talking about the increase or expansion of EFSF (European Financial Stability Fund) with a non-member euro area," the euro area-in-chief Jean-Claude Juncker said at a meeting Finance Ministers of the club change from 17 countries and central bankers.

On the sidelines of the talks, Mr. Geithner urged the leaders to support the euro rescue fund, but since the request immediately rejected by Germany - which demanded that Washington drop its opposition to a global tax on financial transactions, "categorically" Geithner resisted.

Austrian Finance Minister said Maria Fekter Geithner urged Europe to increase the size of its 440 billion euros (607 billion) EFSF for member states in difficulty and take more measures to support the financial sector and banking.

But Schaeuble insisted that only taxpayers could not bear the burden, leaving the two parties in conflict.

"What is very damaging not only to see dissension in the debate on the strategy in Europe, but the ongoing conflict between the country and the [European] central bank," Geithner said on the sidelines talks in Wroclaw, south-west Poland.

"Governments and central banks should take the risk of catastrophe markets," he said, after the hosts non-euro, rarely took the initiative to invite him to attend - ahead of other non- -Euro, the EU, such as Great Britain.

Later Friday, the U.S. Treasury issued a statement in Washington, minimizing the voltage ratios at the meeting between Geithner and Schaeuble.

"Secretary Geithner urged his European counterparts to act resolutely and to speak with one voice. He did not advocate or oppose any specific policy prescriptions, "the statement said.

Angelika Renner

ExCom member 2010-2011 

I studied Marine Environmental Sciences and Maths in Germany and got a first introduction to polar science during the work on my diploma thesis at the University of Helsinki, Finland, looking at model data of Arctic sea ice. To get my hands on some observational data, I went to the Norwegian Polar Institute (NPI) for an internship, got the opportunity to go on a science cruise to the Arctic ice, and got properly hooked on science and fieldwork. After a short while at NPI and the Climate and Cryosphere (CliC) Office in Tromsø, I moved to the UK in 2006 to do my PhD at the British Antarctic Survey and the University of East Anglia. Switching hemisphere, I investigated currents and associated transports of material from the Antarctic Peninsula using models and observations and spent some time on ships in the Southern Ocean. While in the UK, I got involved in the national branch of APECS there, the UK Polar Network, looked after the UKPN finances for a couple of years, helped organising several UKPN and APECS events, and joined the APECS council in 2009. In summer 2010, I started at my current position at the Norwegian Polar Institute, and am now trying to combine upper ocean and sea ice physics, narrowing the gap between the two disciplines and furthering our understanding of the interactions between ocean and sea ice. Shortly after moving to Tromsø, I also joined the APECS ExCom and worked together with the other ExCom members to coordinate and advance the activities in our organisation and move APECS forward. Besides my science and outreach directly linked to the projects, I have also been involved as science leader in expeditions for young students, and have organised several outreach events and workshops for students and teachers. I try to share and pass on my passion for science and the polar regions to anybody who would listen!

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