EU agrees on permanent eurozone rescue fund

European Union leaders have agreed to set up a permanent mechanism to bail out any member state whose debt problems threaten the 16-nation eurozone, the BBC reports.

The 27 leaders, meeting in Brussels on Thursday, agreed that in 2013 the permanent mechanism would succeed the eurozone's €750bn (£637bn) temporary bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The eurozone stability mechanism will require a change to the EU's Lisbon Treaty - but the wording has now been agreed, diplomats say. EU President Herman Van Rompuy says leaders are ready to do whatever was required to protect the currency. The agreement says "member states whose currency is the euro may establish a stability mechanism, to be activated if indispensable to ...