Sahlin urges tougher EU fiscal sanctions
Social Democrat leader Mona Sahlin has called for the EU to mete out tougher punishments to any member states found to have mismanaged their finances over a long period of time, Stockholm daily Dagens Nyheter reports.
In her new book, Möjligheternas land (‘Land of Possibilities’), Sahlin argues that countries failing to fulfil the criteria laid out in the European Union’s stability pact should be denied access to EU financial support mechanisms such as agricultural subsidies and development funds.
“If the stability pact is to be anything more than just nice words on a page then it must mean more than ink it’s written with,” she told Dagens Nyheter.
“I think the time is now ripe to have the debate about these issues that for many years the EU has not dared to deal with,” she added.
Minister for Finance Anders Borg, a delegate in the group currently negotiating a new EU system of sanctions, indicated that the opposition leader may have missed the thrust of recent discussions on the subject.
“These are exactly the kinds of measures under consideration in the group and it’s good that the Social Democrats have realized this,” Borg told Dagens Nyheter.
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In her new book, Möjligheternas land (‘Land of Possibilities’), Sahlin argues that countries failing to fulfil the criteria laid out in the European Union’s stability pact should be denied access to EU financial support mechanisms such as agricultural subsidies and development funds.
“If the stability pact is to be anything more than just nice words on a page then it must mean more than ink it’s written with,” she told Dagens Nyheter.
“I think the time is now ripe to have the debate about these issues that for many years the EU has not dared to deal with,” she added.
Minister for Finance Anders Borg, a delegate in the group currently negotiating a new EU system of sanctions, indicated that the opposition leader may have missed the thrust of recent discussions on the subject.
“These are exactly the kinds of measures under consideration in the group and it’s good that the Social Democrats have realized this,” Borg told Dagens Nyheter.
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