SP leader Emile Roemer, currently riding high in the opinion polls ahead of the September general election, has criticised the EU’s ‘accountants’ obsession with a maximum budget deficit of 3%.

In an interview with the Financieele Dagblad, Roemer says both consumers and producers are suffering from a confidence crisis.
‘It is idiotic not to look at that, but instead to focus on a maximum deficit of 3% in 2013,’ Roemer said. ‘The government has to get the country working again. And then I’d have to pay a ridiculous fine because the deficit is bigger than 3%. Over my dead body.’
Net payers
The Netherlands is one of the biggest net payers to the EU, he points out. ‘Spain is being given more time [to reduce its deficit] and that should apply to everyone. We must do what is sensible.’
An opinion poll by television current affairs show EenVandaag on Wednesday evening put Roemer’s group on target to win 39 out of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament. Mark Rutte’s right-wing VVD trails Roemer in that poll by eight seats.
The SP’s plans include investing an extra €3bn in the construction sector and guaranteeing spending power for people with an income up to €30,000 a year will not be affected. ‘If people with low incomes have more confidence, then they spend more,’ Roemer told the paper.


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