Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s has issued a warning that the six eurozone countries with a triple-A rating – including the Netherlands – face being downgraded within three months.

France, Germany, Austria, Finland and Luxemburg are also in line for a downgrade, says the agency, which calculates how able countries and companies are to pay their debts.
In addition, S&P has nine other eurozone countries in its sights.

Minister
The warning shows that the eurozone debt crisis could spread to all the countries involved, Dutch finance minister Jan Kees de Jager said in a reaction. That is why the Netherlands ‘has made concrete proposals which will help solve the crisis’, he said.
It is a good thing the government is sticking to its policy of bringing the Dutch budget under control, De Jager told Nos television.
S&P’s warning came shortly after French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel announced plans for a new European treaty with tough budget demands and better supervision.
Meeting

Their plan will be discussed with all the leaders of the eurozone countries on Friday.
According to former finance minister Wouter Bos, who is giving evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the 2008 credit crisis, the supervision of eurozone countries’ budgets must be done by an independent authority such as the European Central Bank rather than politicians.