“It’s only a baby step in that direction,” Volcker said in an interview in Siena, Italy. “You’ve got to talk about some kind of budgetary limits, but I think it’s beyond budgetary limits. And that is a very big deal because people think they’re giving up central points of sovereignty.”

Euro-area finance ministers meet Monday in Brussels after leaders agreed at a June 28-29 summit to ease the way to direct recapitalization of banks from bailout funds and to start work on Europe-wide bank supervision. Closer ties are necessary for the future of the 17-nation euro region, Volcker said.

Editor’s Note: Economist Unapologetically Calls Out Bernanke, Obama For Mishandling Economy. See What They Did.

“I would argue that that’s essential to the concept of a unified Europe and a unified currency,” he said. “And you’ve got to be prepared to do that or the currency can’t hold together.”

Volcker also said any debt mutualization and euro bonds can only happen after more economic integration. “The basic big issue is having unified economic control,” he said.

Asked if he was concerned about the U.S. economy, Volcker said: “I make a profession of being worried, so there’s lots of reasons to be worried.”

“It’s a very slow recovery,” he said. “The world is not in a situation where it’s easy to get out of too much debt, too much leverage. It takes a long while.”

Editor’s Note: Economist Unapologetically Calls Out Bernanke, Obama For Mishandling Economy. See What They Did.