"We want Germany to be our sherpa on this job training adventure, " he told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.

BBC: Germany to help Spain give skills to jobless youths

Speaking to Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper, Mr Frieden acknowledged that other countries were increasingly demanding more information on what their citizens were doing with their money in foreign banks.

BBC: Luxembourg 'open' to bank transparency, Luc Frieden

" The center-right Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany's most respected paper, noted that while the idea has been predictably attacked by unions and some business interests, "massive resistance by people representing particular interests and associations is the most certain sign that this is the right path to take.

WSJ: The World Is Flat