Finland has objected to a Franco-German plan to make decisions on using the eurozone bail-out fund easier, saying it is an "alarming" move. Finnish finance minister Jutta Urpilainen on Wednesday (7 December) said she could not accept Paris and Berlin's push, outlined in a letter sent to Brussels on Wednesday evening, that decisions on the eurozone's rescue mechanisms should be made by majority vote rather than by unanimity. ”In the future, consensus would no longer be required. From the Finnish perspective, it is a very alarming arrangement, and one that Finland cannot accept," she said, according to YLE, Finland’s public broadcaster. The Finnish parliament on Thursday (8 December) will decide on the constitutionality of the proposal, hours before the start of summit negotiations in Brussels, expected to last until the early hours of Friday morning. The country's constitutional law committee heard constitutional law expert Kaarlo Tuori on Wednesday, who said that the proposal would infringe upon the rights of Finnish taxpayers. “Finland will give up its veto rights when it comes to [the still-to-be-implemented, permanent bail-out fund, the European Stability Mechanism] decisions,” Tuori said. “Without its own consent, Finland could be committed to decisions that concern using tax money paid by Finnish taxpayers.” The committee’s chair, Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, said the committee's decision will tie the hands of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen when he negotiates at Friday’s crucial EU summit, YLE reports. The Franco-German plan, put forward on Monday, aims to avoid having the decision-making held up by just one country, as happened earlier this year when Slovakia's domestic politics delayed ratification of the current bail-out fund. Under the proposal, a super majority - corresponding to 85 percent of capital in the European Central Bank - would be enough to secure use of the fund's money. Critics, however, point out that this would still give a de facto veto to the big countries. Separately, the biggest opposition party in the Netherlands on Wednesday said that elections should be called if the Franco-German plans, which include suggestions for tighter economic governance, are put in place.
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Thursday, December 8, 2011
Finland has objected to a Franco-German plan to make decisions on using the
Finland has objected to a Franco-German plan to make decisions on using the eurozone bail-out fund easier, saying it is an "alarming" move. Finnish finance minister Jutta Urpilainen on Wednesday (7 December) said she could not accept Paris and Berlin's push, outlined in a letter sent to Brussels on Wednesday evening, that decisions on the eurozone's rescue mechanisms should be made by majority vote rather than by unanimity. ”In the future, consensus would no longer be required. From the Finnish perspective, it is a very alarming arrangement, and one that Finland cannot accept," she said, according to YLE, Finland’s public broadcaster. The Finnish parliament on Thursday (8 December) will decide on the constitutionality of the proposal, hours before the start of summit negotiations in Brussels, expected to last until the early hours of Friday morning. The country's constitutional law committee heard constitutional law expert Kaarlo Tuori on Wednesday, who said that the proposal would infringe upon the rights of Finnish taxpayers. “Finland will give up its veto rights when it comes to [the still-to-be-implemented, permanent bail-out fund, the European Stability Mechanism] decisions,” Tuori said. “Without its own consent, Finland could be committed to decisions that concern using tax money paid by Finnish taxpayers.” The committee’s chair, Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, said the committee's decision will tie the hands of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen when he negotiates at Friday’s crucial EU summit, YLE reports. The Franco-German plan, put forward on Monday, aims to avoid having the decision-making held up by just one country, as happened earlier this year when Slovakia's domestic politics delayed ratification of the current bail-out fund. Under the proposal, a super majority - corresponding to 85 percent of capital in the European Central Bank - would be enough to secure use of the fund's money. Critics, however, point out that this would still give a de facto veto to the big countries. Separately, the biggest opposition party in the Netherlands on Wednesday said that elections should be called if the Franco-German plans, which include suggestions for tighter economic governance, are put in place.
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The country’s minority government normally relies on the parliamentary support of the hard-right Freedom Party, but needs the opposition social democrats to deliver a majority on European policy.
“If there really is a question of transfer of powers, then I think we should ask the people’s consent. And that would mean elections, as far as I am concerned,” said party leader Job Cohen.
Ronald Plasterk, in charge of finance issues for the party, repeated the statement during a six-hour debate in the evening.
Holding the proposals by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in his hand, he said: “If there are to be real changes on these points, then I think that the voters should have their say.”
Prime Minister Mark Rutte, for his part, refused to comment on the proposals but said he would make the case at the summit for automatic sanctions for countries that flout budget rules, making sure the bail-out fund is big enough, and for any treaty changes to be made at the level of all 27 EU member states, not just the eurozone 17, a position Paris has pushed.
European leaders have embarked on a mammoth effort to forestall the ruin of the single currency at what was seen as the most important Brussels summit in years, with France, Germany and the leaders of the eurozone lined up against David Cameron and his campaign to extract a price in return for agreeing to Europe's new "fiscal compact".
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the two-day summit was the EU's last chance to save the euro. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, the central figure pushing a new punitive euro regime, voiced confidence that a satisfactory deal would be reached. Cameron insisted he wanted a "fair deal" for Britain and warned he would not hesitate to veto Franco-German proposals unless he got something in return.
In what was seen as a warning on behalf of Germany and France, Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg and chairman of the Eurogroup, told Cameron to back off or face the prospect of being sidelined by a new treaty forged simply among the 17 eurozone countries
Restoring financial markets' confidence in the euro by showing that the bailout mechanism is strong enough is key, Austria's chancellor said Thursday.
"What we urgently need to do is to restore the confidence of financial markets," Chancellor Werner Faymann said on his way into dinner with European Union leaders in Brussels. "Financial markets will be reassured when they see we have enough firepower."
He added that he is willing to discuss various ways to do this, but changes to the treaties governing the EU and currency union should only be made if they are accompanied by strict fiscal discipline from members.
"We need to have a firewall which is worthy of this expression," he told reporters when asked about the euro-zone bailout fund.
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