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Danger of uneven Europe recovery has fallen: Nowotny

The danger of an uneven economic recovery in Europe has fallen despite concerns about the patchy nature of the upturn, European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said Monday.

"One cannot exclude the possibility of a slowdown in recovery, but I think that the risks of an L-shaped or W-shaped development have clearly decreased," he said.

"I think we are now clearly on a sustainable path." Germany and export-dependent smaller eurozone countries are leading the way, while some peripheral countries lag, he said.

"Although this divergence is of course worrisome, we should not immobilize ourselves by focusing on the problematic cases alone," Nowotny said, noting the performance of the EU economy on average was good both during and after the crisis.

He called for strict fiscal discipline, increased emphasis on anticyclical policies during economic upswings, a gradualist approach to institutional reform, and reduced debt levels.

"Given the exceptional nature of the current crisis, it is necessary to think carefully about a reasonable and balanced reform package to be able to distribute the costs of the crisis in an equitable and also politically sustainable way."