Merkel welcomes Euro compromise

EU leaders hailed Friday's Eurozone breakthrough, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying she stuck to her principles as French President Francois Hollande welcomed positive market reactions. "I think that we realized something important, but we remained faithful to our principles: no offers without something in exchange," Merkel said as she returned for the second and final day of summit talks after an 11th-hour deal was struck just before dawn. She said Germany had remained faithful to its principles of "giving, taking in return, setting conditions and maintaining control." In other words, she had not agreed to new measures to relieve pressure on indebted partners without obtaining conditions and control in exchange. Hollande too welcomed the deal to save the single currency and reshape the Eurozone, pointing to upbeat response from the markets and saying: "the initial announcements have already had positive effects." The late-night deal secured after tough and dramatic talks paved the way for the eurozone's 500-billion-euro ($630 billion) bailout fund to recapitalize ailing banks directly, without having to go through governments in moves that often just add to a country's mountain of debt. EU leaders also agreed to stump up around 120 billion euros to boost growth in struggling countries, and agreed to set up a Europe-wide banking supervisory authority by the end of the year. Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency said: "Last night's agreement is a very solid one. "It's a good signal not only for the euro countries but for all of us. "In a time when we have talked a lot about the crisis, we have now a little light in the dark. British Prime Minister David Cameron said of the deal between the 17 single currency nations: "They took important steps forward last night."