German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, UK Prime Minister John Major and French President Francois Mitterrand toasted their agreement to pursue European Monetary Union over a lunch of lobster in a lemon and courgette chutney, followed by pheasant.

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There are reports the European Union and International Monetary Fund have reached a debt relief agreement with Greece, without the debt restructuring that would have upset some EU member countries.

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"We recognize the progress now being made by the Cypriot government toward a solution which can pave the way for an agreement on a financial assistance program for Cyprus, " European monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said in Brussels.

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Since the institution was created in 1944, the U.S. has always selected the World Bank president under an informal agreement with European nations, which pick the head of the International Monetary Fund.

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MEPs debated a report on 6 October 2010 by the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee ahead of the Commission's formal response to the Basle agreement.

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You'll remember, that agreement said the emergency bailout facility, the EFSF, would henceforth play the role of "European Monetary Fund", able to intervene in markets to keep borrowing costs for solvent governments under control.

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