Dutch finance minister under fire again as he ‘snubs’ European parliament

Dutch finance minister and Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem has come under fire again in the European parliament for refusing to show up to discuss the Greek crisis.

French Christian Democrat MEP Alain Lamassoure even went as far as to say Dijsselbloem should be declared ‘persona non grata’ at all EU parliamentary buildings, news agency ANP reported.

The MEPs are furious that Dijsselbloem refused to debate the Greek crisis with them, with condemnation coming from across the political spectrum.

Parliamentary chairman Antonio Tajani said he will lodge a ‘formal protest‘ at the snub. ‘Unanimous condemnation by @Europarl_EN against @J_Dijsselbloem for the umpteenth refusal to answer questions on sacrifices made by our citizens,’ Tajani said on Twitter.

Dijsselbloem, who will meet fellow European finance minister’s at the Malta summit on Friday, said he could not attend the debate because of a scheduling conflict.

Support

According to the Telegraaf, Dijsselbloem had ‘politely’ made his excuses to the European parliament by letter, explaining he could not come to parliament because he is also now an MP in the Dutch lower house and had other obligations.

‘Of course it is right to have a good relationship with the parliament,’ the Telegraaf quoted him as saying.

‘But the support for me personally depends on the Eurogroup and the ministers it represents. I have spoken to many of them in the past week and their support is extremely wide.’

January

The row comes as Dijsselbloem has been sounding out member states about the option of staying on at the Eurogroup until next January, even though he will soon lose the finance ministry job.

He also came under fire last month for telling the Frankfurther Allgemeine Zeitung that solidarity between EU members involved getting budgets under control. ‘I cannot spend all my money on drink and women and then ask for help,’ Dijsselbloem is quoted as saying.

Southern European countries, which have been relying on financial help from the richer north, attacked Dijsselbloem for the slur. Dijsselbloem later attributed his comments to ‘Dutch directness’. ‘If people were offended, then I apologise,’ Dijsselbloem said.