Late Monday, S.P. warned that the ratings of 15 euro zone countries, including Germany and France, were vulnerable to a downgrade. On Tuesday, the agency extended its threat of a possible downgrade to include the top-notch, long-term credit rating on the European Union’s main bailout fund, if any of its gilt-edged guarantors are downgraded.
Though rating agencies have made announcements before previous meetings on the euro debt crisis, Monday’s intervention was dramatic. Market indexes in the euro zone closed down Tuesday, while the yields on German and French bonds rose, a sign of added risk to holders of the securities.
The European commissioner responsible for financial market regulation, Michel Barnier, complained that S.P. had acted without waiting to evaluate the results of the upcoming two-day summit meeting in Brussels.
Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the group of euro zone finance ministers, added during an interview on German radio, “I have to wonder that this news reaches us out of the clear blue sky at the time of the European summit — this can’t be a coincidence.”
This time S.P.’s downgrade threat was effectively a warning to European leaders of the consequences that would flow from failure to take sufficiently convincing action.
Few now dispute the central thrust of the argument advanced by the rating agency that the economy of the euro zone is deteriorating so rapidly that quick and far-reaching action is required to avert disaster.
“I actually see a positive effect, because now everyone must be aware of how serious the situation is,” Norbert Barthle, the budget spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party in Germany, told Reuters.
The German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, called it the “best encouragement” to find a solution.
“The truth is that markets in the whole world right now don’t trust the euro area at all,” he said in Vienna, Bloomberg News reported.
S.P.’s statement will prompt European leaders “to do what we’ve promised, namely to take the necessary decisions step by step and to win back the confidence of global investors,” Mr. Schäuble said.
A report Tuesday from Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Council, outlined a fast-track option for creating a tighter fiscal framework, or “fiscal compact,” for the 17-country euro zone. This method would rush changes through and avoid the need for time-consuming approval in all 27 E.U. nations.
The hope among many European officials is that an accord along these lines will give the European Central Bank political cover to intervene more aggressively to alleviate the crisis. However it was unclear Tuesday whether the more limited “quick fix” solution — as opposed to a full modification of the E.U. treaty — would allow enough change to satisfy Germany.
Speaking on a visit to Germany, the U.S. Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, praised recent efforts of European leaders to forge a stronger fiscal union.
“I am very encouraged by the developments in Europe in the past few weeks,” including the reform commitments in Italy, Spain, and Greece, and new steps toward a “fiscal compact,” he said in Berlin.
Asked about an enhanced role for the International Monetary Fund, Mr. Geithner responded that it was playing an important role, and that he expected it to continue to do so. He said the United States continued to support the fund “in the context of the efforts Europeans are making to build a stronger Europe.”
Speaking in Brussels, Mr. Barnier rejected the idea that the S.P. announcement was an act of revenge after the European Commission announced plans last month to tighten regulation of rating agencies.
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