Liikanen and Vanhanen criticise Parliament’s EU policy

Bank of Finland Governor and former PM support qualified majority voting in ESM

print this

Both Bank of Finland Governor Erkki Liikanen and former Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) criticised the Finnish Parliament for the way that it is handling European Union issues.
      On a television interview programme on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Saturday morning, Vanhanen said that he supports qualified majority voting in decisions of the EU’s crisis fund – the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Finland has sought to adhere to the principle of consensus in the matter.
     
“I would have been in favour of a qualified majority, which would have been considerably lower, so that no country, not even Germany, could block decision-making on its own”, Vanhanen said.
      In Vanhanen’s view, small groups often manage to block decision-making. This leads to the placing of various conditions on decisions, and creates a lack of market confidence.
     
Liikanen agreed with Vanhanen that the requirement of unanimity would make it difficult for the ESM to function.
      Liikanen said in a radio interview programme on YLE on Saturday that when money is placed in the fund, decision-making needs to stay in the hands of the member countries. Requiring consensus would, in his view, slow down decision-making in a major crisis.
      Liikanen calculates that Europe has a few months to start getting its debt crisis under control. If uncertainty increases for a few months ahead, he predicts that the world economy will fall into recession, Finnish exports will collapse, GDP will decline by two per cent next year, unemployment will exceed ten per cent, and the state debt will fly out of control.
     
To those calling for a return to Finland’s old national currency, the markka, Liikanen said that the markka is history, and that the euro was a good decision for Finland.
      Liikanen also urged the Finnish government to make needed decisions on cutting costs and taxation in the budget framework talks in March. He also called for a higher minimum retirement age.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland sticks to consensus demand at euro summit (9.12.2011)
  NEWS ANALYSIS: Government partners disagree on how to decide on emergency loans in euro crisis (13.12.2011)
  PM: Finland needs to be part of ESM (12.12.2011)
  Intense debate in Parliament over euro crisis (14.12.2011)

Helsingin Sanomat