If Eurozone falls apart, EU will follow - Polish finance minister

WROCLAW, September 17 (Itar-Tass) -- If the Eurozone disintegrates, it
will be difficult to imagine the EU will not break up afterwards, Poland's
Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski remarked, summing up what was said during
the first day of the informal meeting of the Council for Economic and
Financial Affairs, held in Wroclaw.
"If the euro zone falls apart, it will be difficult to imagine that
the EU will not," he said. "There is no legal possibility of leaving the
Eurozone without leaving the EU. Of course, such a mechanism can be
created, but now there is none."
"It's hard to imagine that Europe without the EU will be as safe as it
is now," the Polish finance minister added.
Rostowski said "a crisis can only be tackled together."
"We are merely beginning to achieve some success," he said. Among the
recent achievements he mentioned the agreement among the central banks, a
compromise on the EU competitiveness pact, as well as deeper cooperation
with the United States. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner attended
the meeting in Wroclaw, and, according to Rostowski, he "clearly stated
that for the United States the stability of Europe is not only an economic
issue, but also a strategic one."
"We also talked about the need for deeper integration in the euro
area, which will ensure its safety," said Rostowski. "We have discussed
many issues. Despite the informal nature of discussions it often produces
guidelines for the EU to develop along in a fairly distant future."