Europe signals over fiscal union

Signs that European policymakers are talking about a long-term plan for fiscal integration are encouraging, a top official at credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's told Reuters on Wednesday, but risks remain if decisions are made too slowly.

It has been "encouraging to see lately some signs the policymakers seem to be willing to put together and articulate a long-term plan and vision for how Europe will more fully integrate," Curt Moulton, S&P's global head of sovereign ratings, said in an interview.

"The risks ... are they take too long to develop a plan and their decisions are too incremental as they go along," he said.

John Chambers, the chairman of S&P's sovereign rating committee, said European leaders can also protect some of the region's weaker economies should Greece default again.

"We think that with a robust policy response by the Europeans, that they can insulate some of their governments that are currently getting official assistance from some of the fallout" if Greece defaults again, Chambers said.