EU-US summit

The United States offered the European Union support on Monday in the face of a spreading sovereign debt crisis, but Washington said it would make no financial contribution to help prop up the ailing 17-member eurozone currency union.

US President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met in the White House for closed door talks with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

President Obama, who is currently locked in a battle with Republicans in Congress over Washington's own dismal fiscal situation, said that the health of the stagnant American economy was tied to the uncertain fate of the eurozone.

"The United States is ready to do our part to help them resolve this issue," Obama said after meeting with the EU's leaders. "This is of huge importance to our own economy."

"If Europe is contracting or if Europe is having difficulties, then it is much more difficult for us to create good jobs at home," he added.

'New and difficult phase'

Although the president expressed willingness to help Washington's trans-Atlantic allies, assistance is most likely to come in the form of advice regarding the US experience during the financial crash that began in 2007.

"We do not in any way believe that additional resources are required from the United States or from American taxpayers," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.

Both the EU and US acknowledged in a joint statement that the global economy had "entered a new and difficult phase" since their last summit last year in Lisbon, Portugal. The White House, however, said it believed that Europe was capable of resolving its debt issues on its own.

"The United States believes that Europe needs to take decisive action, conclusive action, to handle this problem and that it has the capacity to do so," Carney said.

European division

The EU, however, remains divided over how the debt crisis should be attacked. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and EU Commission President Barroso have disagreed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over the role of the European Central Bank (ECB) and the introduction of common bonds for the eurozone states.

Sarkozy and Merkel did agree to draft changes to the EU's treaties that would allow Brussels to monitor the national budgets of member states and impose sanctions when they break fiscal rules. The changes are to be presented during an EU summit on December 8. Barroso sought to reassure Obama that Europe would tame the debt crisis.

"I want to reassure President Obama, and also I want to reassure the Americans, Europe is going through tough times, yes, but we are determined to overcome the current difficulties," Barroso said.

Author: Spencer Kimball (Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Matt Zuvela