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Mixed Dutch reactions to eurozone deal but Britain will be missedSaturday 10 December 2011 The deal agreed by European leaders to rescue the euro will lead to 'as many automatic sanctions as possible for countries which do not keep to monetary union rules', prime minister Mark Rutte told the reporters at the end of Friday's summit. 'This is the endgame in terms of the introduction of the euro,' Rutte said. 'We are finally sorting out what we did not sort out at the beginning.' Twenty-six of the 27 member states backed a tax and budget pact to tackle the eurozone debt crisis after two days of talks. Britain opted out of the deal, saying it is not in the country's interests. The main points of the agreement include a cap of 0.5% of GDP on countries' annual structural deficits and 'automatic consequences' for countries whose public deficit exceeds 3% of GDP. These measures are also to be enshrined in member states' constitutions. Step forward Finance minister Jan Kees de Jager told reporters the Brussels summit was an 'enormous step forward' even though the eurozone's problems have not yet been solved. De Jager pointed out that concrete steps still have to be worked out and put to national parliaments for approval. Central bank chief Klaas Knot said the important issue is budgetary discipline. 'How that happens, whether in a treaty between 17 or 27 countries, is secondary,' he said. Parliament In the Netherlands, pro-European parties in parliament are disappointed with the outcome of the summit, as is the anti-Islam and staunchly anti-European PVV. 'This is a weak deal,' said Ronald Plasterk, the PvdA's finance spokesman. 'In fact, there is a tear in the European Union,' he said, referring to Britain's opt-out. In addition, the deal is not enough to end the European debt crisis, he said. Alexander Pechtold, leader of the liberal democrats D66, also said the agreement is weak. He told reporters he believes the EU needs more political cooperation to solve the crisis. Loss for the Netherlands Britain's decision to drop out of the deal is also a loss for the Netherlands, the Parool writes in an analysis. 'In line with Dutch tradition, Mark Rutte tried to keep Britain on board. Britain is a good counter-weight to French and German dominance. And Rutte will miss Britain's more Liberal approach to the economy,' the paper says. The Financieele Dagblad says Britain's isolation is a sop for eurosceptic Conservatives and that the British government had not wanted to give serious support to treaty changes. And Britain's demand for concessions on financial sector regulation will only lead to more fireworks in the months to come, the paper says. © DutchNews.nl
The Maastricht treaty had already defined the 3% limit of public deficit, but that didn't stop countries borrowing more than they could pay off and Croatia will only add salt to the EU's wounds....... By Marco Marboni | December 10, 2011 10:29 PM The Euro will always be at risk of collapsing if countries like Greece, etc. continue their ways in hiding the full extent of their national debts. With economic slowdowns in many EU countries; there will be more countries in need of bailouts to keep their debts under control. The problem now the EU will face is that several private investors agreed to accept losses of 50 percent on Greek bonds along with a 2nd bailout. Other countries needing bailouts like Italy, etc. will likely expect a similar agreement to ease their debt shortfalls. Can’t do for one and not the other-One for all and all for one – That is what the EU pact intended to achieve. By JB | December 11, 2011 5:53 PM Hi, By Terence Hale | December 12, 2011 8:20 AM This is how the EU nations will fall – The Euro was mostly a German idea and a benefit for Germany. Their economy has significantly improved within the last century with the Euro (exports, manufacturing, fiscal management, etc). Everyone has seen the animosity among several EU countries recently - The ones eager to kick out weaker, less competitive economic counties in southern Europe aka (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain) from the Euro – hoping to alleviate much of the bailouts obligations they are currently encountering. Who knows? Germany might one day decide to form its own union of stronger economic countries like Austria, NL, Sweden, Belgium. It will be then be the North and South EU countries like North and South America. By Elaine | December 12, 2011 4:13 PM Why should less developed countries like Poland, Romania or Slovenia sponsor Greek's retirement incomes? Maybe Germany should do this and let their citizens pay for Greek retirement incomes. Do you know that the average pension in Poland is 400 Euros? Do you know the amount of average pension in Greece is 750 Euros? Why would the Polish government separate money from its own state budget to give it away to Greeks and not to its own citizens? This whole situation is kinda like oxymoron to me. By Rain | December 12, 2011 4:19 PM the uk as paid the second highest amount to the eu and if a tax on banking goes through within 10yrs they will have contributed the most. By iw | December 12, 2011 5:19 PM Why are the Dutch surrendering their democracy to bail out banks who made poor investments? This is the wrong direction to take. Britain is on the right course. Preserving the euro at the expense of democracy is a dangerous and disturbing development and speaks volumes about politician's priorities. The Dutch should show more leadership and face the music- the euro is dead. By Robert | December 12, 2011 5:32 PM Resolving the EU economic crisis would require the best-possible combination of austerity and economic growth for most countries. It is, I think, a bridge too far. By Ron Slade | December 12, 2011 5:49 PM Almost all EU leaders agreed to a new “fiscal compact” – The only thing new with this idea is that France and Germany will be the main overseers of the entire euro monetary system – wanting to assemble all the separate pieces of legislation into a single EU treaty. Yikes! This is going to become a bigger mess to sort out in years to come if the euro survives. Most of the original legislation was never followed by countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal, etc. Nor was it enforced by EU leaders. Now comes “Fix It” mode to repair the mess they created. The only "stabilization tools" they have come up with is throwing another wrench in the system that already failed. By Truth Speaks | December 12, 2011 5:59 PM Don't rate Cameron much, but at last he has done something good. The agreement is probably illegal anyway. By Tim | December 12, 2011 7:09 PM Speaking as an Englishman of a certain age, I well recall the French (De Gaulle) keeping us out of the EU for many years, and this was followed up by the UK thankfully not meeting the criteria for joining the Euro, and so this has lead us to taking alternative paths. In addition, we admire the Germans, but don't wish to be led by them, particularly in view of what has gone on between us in the last century, and so the present UK stance seems reasonable to many of us here. We're Europeans, but don't have to run with the herd to prove it. By Martin S | December 12, 2011 7:20 PM Good luck europe under german control again,will uk have to rescue you again? By George Young | December 12, 2011 10:18 PM Funny that Britain once had a huge empire and was a force to be reckoned with: Europe needs the UK, the UK doesn't need Europe, once and island, always an island. After WW2, we said never again to allow Germany to dominate Europe: now history is repeating itself, but this time, Caesar is known as the EU. By The visitor | December 13, 2011 2:07 AM Eurozone deal? you mean the deal that global investors have no faith or trust in anymore? By Bill | December 14, 2011 11:26 AM
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Rutte is a Thatcherite and Atlanticist and cannot be expected to do what is best for the European project. The Netherlands can also play trouble-maker for both Thatcherism and as a hard-line supporter Atlanticism. Take a look at what Rutte is doing to the Disadvantaged to see what a rotten Thatcherite he is...
The truth is that, with the so-called "anti-Islam kingmaker" and former LPFers in government doing great damage to Dutch foreign policy, it is perhaps best if the Netherlands went back to neutrality!
By eslaporte | December 10, 2011 5:34 PM