BRATISLAVA, December 6, (WEBNOVINY) — Prime Minister Iveta Radicova received a mandate from the Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs for the upcoming summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels on December 8 and 9. Deputies for the opposition SMER-SD voted for the resolution that gives Radicova a rather broad mandate, based on which Slovakia supports measures that will bring tighter fiscal rules including automatic strict sanctions, economic growth, new jobs, increase in the living standard of European citizens and will not limit responsible countries. Representatives of the SaS, OKS and SNS parties refrained from voting.
According to Finance Minister Ivan Miklos, a rejection of measures proposed by the European Commission and the Merkel-Sarkozy duo would de facto mean an end of the euro with far-reaching consequences. The minister claims that apart from dissolution of the eurozone or full participation of the European Central Bank in resolving problems of indebted countries and issuing joint euro bonds, the proposed measures are the only existing alternative. Slovakia should therefore not insist on pushing forward some points, such as the definition of the private sector’s participation in the new bailout fund.
SaS deputy Jozef Kollar explained reasons why it was impossible for them to support the mandate for the prime minister. First, it is a direction toward the formation of a fiscal union, second, the introduction of joint euro bonds in any form, next direction toward harmonization of taxes, increasing the ECB’s participation in saving indebted economies and most importantly, canceling the right of veto in certain decision-making processes.
The finance minister and the prime minister argued that the Franco-German proposals do not calculate with issuing joint euro bonds or increasing the ECB’s participation in buying bonds of troubled countries. Radicova said that with regard to the right of veto, it is important in which processes this institute should be used.
SITA