Merkel: Europe faces 'long road' to win back trust

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Standard & Poor's downgrades of nine eurozone countries underline the fact that Europe has a "long road" in front of it to win back investors' confidence.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says Standard & Poor's downgrades of nine eurozone countries underline the fact that Europe has a "long road" in front of it to win back investors' confidence.

Merkel pushed Saturday for European countries to implement "as soon as possible" a planned pact to strengthen budget discipline and said eurozone countries also must move quickly to implement their permanent rescue fund — the so-called European Stability Mechanism.

Germany wasn't downgraded by S&P, but France, with which it has co-piloted the rescue effort, lost its top-notch AAA rating.

Merkel said the decision "won't torpedo" the work of the current, temporary eurozone rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.