France and Germany have pledged to take "all necessary measures" to ensure the stability of the euro area after rating agency Standard & Poor's said the two countries risked losing their triple-A ratings.
"France and Germany, in full solidarity, confirm their determination to take all the necessary measures, in liaison with their partners and the European institutions to ensure the stability of the euro area," they said in a joint statement last night in which they "take note" of the possible S&P action.
S&P had earlier placed Germany, France and 13 other euro zone members on a negative credit watch, warning that they could be hit with downgrades.
Its move came just hours after crisis talks between President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel on the debt crisis.
"Systemic stresses in the euro zone have risen in recent weeks to the extent that they now put downward pressure on the credit standing of the euro zone as a whole," S&P said in a statement.
The warning threatened the AAA ratings of Germany, France, the Netherlands, Finland, Luxembourg and Austria.
S&P said it would complete a review of euro zone sovereign ratings "as soon as possible" following the EU summit on the debt crisis on Thursday and Friday.
Depending on the results of that summit, S&P said, "we believe ratings could be lowered by up to one notch for Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, and Luxembourg, and by up to two notches for the other governments".
