Last week The Daily reported about the request of finance minister Ivan Miklos for the contributions of Member States to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) to be made more proportionate to their economies instead of their populations. At a press conference today, Miklos says he will demand that the change be put into effect.
The ESM is set to replace the EFSF scheme in 2013, and Slovakia is adamant about having the system changed, because at present it would be unfair to countries like Slovakia. Slovakia wants the level of contributions to be set chiefly according to economic performance.
The present EFSF scheme calculates contributions not only depending on the volume of capital the particular country has in the European Central Bank, but also according to the size of a country’s population. There lies the problem, says Miklos, as it is unfair to smaller countries.
Miklos is demanding that the new formula also take account of a country’s financial sector and its level of indebtedness. He pointed out that Slovakia is not alone in its opinion, having rallied the support of Estonia and Slovenia, for instance. Miklos said the government would push hard for its proposal, but also that he was confident that the EU would accept the argument.