The European Union's finance ministers stressed the underlying strength of the EU's economies on Friday in Portugal as shocks continued to trouble world financial markets, according to DPA. "The EU's fundamentals remain solid. The solidity of Europe's financial institutions... ensures that we have the conditions to continue our leadership role during this period of increased volatility," Portuguese Finance Minister Teixeiro do Santos, who hosted the informal ministerial meeting, told reporters. On a day which began with the news that one of the UK's biggest mortgage lenders, Northern Rock, had received emergency funding from the Bank of England, financial leaders laid a heavy emphasis on the need for markets to recover their confidence. "Europe is that strong that we are able to handle situations like (the current economic uncertainty). The European economy is robust and stable," Austrian Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer said in a comment which many ministers echoed. But in the wake of the financial crisis which spanned the globe after the US market for poor-quality housing loans known as subprime mortgages nosedived, they also called for an increased transparency in financial markets and a more careful analysis of investment risk.
