On the subject of the recent proposals divulged by French president Nikolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, Slovak PM Iveta Radicova has said she welcomes any decision that forces EU member states to be more responsible.
Radicova specified that the proposal for states to have a balanced budget ensured by their constitutions is a good one, saying that her SDKU party has always promoted the idea of resolving the current situation by way of individual members consolidating their public finances, aided also by reforms.
Sarkozy and Merkel also came up with the idea of establishing a form of kind of economic government for the 17 eurozone countries, which would convene at least twice a year and be steered by President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy.
Referring to pan-eurozone harmonisation of taxes, however, Radicova pointed out that this proposal of France and Germany was not acceptable for Slovakia, as this went against the grain of Slovakia’s interests. Overall, the proposals have been welcomed by EU Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn.
The plan is to implement the new system by next summer, although Sarkozy and Merkel expect many obstacles along the road as individual governments push for their own interests.