Reader Janne from Finland claims "hell will freeze over" before Finland signs the Merkozy deal as it is structured right now. Janne also claims Finland will "loan" money to the IMF and it will not be in the budget. From Janne ....
Hello Mish My collection and translation of news shows this new treaty is in serious trouble. Finance minister Jutta Urpilainen (social democrats/SDP) says Finland has only two options after the EU-summit: Either unanimity is required in ESM decisions as agreed before or Finland will drop out of ESM. She does NOT see any other options based on the statement by Finnish Parliaments Constitutional Committee. Loan Not Gift Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen says that Finnish contribution to strengthening the IMF is 3.8 billion euros and this money will be a loan from the Bank of Finland to IMF so this will NOT be part of the Finnish budget. Timo Soini,leader of the main opposition party The Finns party(PerusSuomalaiset) is very worried about the decisions made in Brussels and thinks particularly bad is the plan to remove unanimity and move to majority decisions regarding ESM. 85% Rule Against Finnish Constitution Soini says that majority decisions in ESM are against the Finnish Constitution as confirmed recently by Finnish Parliaments Constitutional Committee. There was a clear mandate from Finnish Parliament that majority decisions in ESM are against Finnish Constitution and this EU-agreement should have never been agreed to. If this goes through Finland will become responsible for others debts in way where we can NOT influence it or stop it. Soini thinks especially worrying is that large euro-countries may themselves withdraw from responsibility. Germany, France and Italy can each stop the use of ESM if they so choose. This is unbelievable when smaller countries right to decide has been taken away. Soini thinks much discussed and fiercely demanded investor responsibility(PSI) in ESM is completely watered down. These instruments are created to remove investor responsibility and make taxpayers pay profits to gamblers. Finland Expects Private Sector Involvement Limiting so-called private-sector involvement to the terms accepted in International Monetary Fund bailouts was part of a package agreed upon in Brussels early today as leaders met to forge tighter economic bonds to stem the crisis according to Bloomberg and other news sources. Reporting is different in Finland where Prime Minister Katainen said Finland got what it wanted when it comes to investor responsibility and that Private Sector Involvement will be fulfilled. Treaty Footnotes: "subject to confirmation by Finnish Parliament
Finland had its own views through the EU statement . Though not the text itself, but in a footnote. Footnotes can be found in the morning released a 7-page statement at the bottom of page 6. Here in the EU countries declare that the emergency fund EVM can act by qualified majority, 85 per cent. A footnote states that this condition is dependent on the Finnish Parliament's approval. Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen said earlier on Friday that Finland was the only country that opposed the proposal by qualified majority. The Constitution of Finland on Thursday, the committee said that the proposal of a qualified majority is Finnish unconstitutional.
No Support for Passage Center-party(Keskusta) who is also in opposition joins The Finns Party(Perussuomalaiset) in opposing majority decisions in ESM as does government party Christian Democrats: Center party parliament group leader Kimmo Tiilikainen promises NO support at all to the idea that Finland would approve majority decisions in ESM and withdraw from insisting unanimity. Katainen and Urpilainen can clean up their own mess. Center party will NOT relinquish Finnish sovereignty and Finnish decision making to countries who have repeatedly violated EU-agreements. Christian Democrat leader and interior minister Päivi Räsänen says that Finland should NOT give up unanimity requirement in ESM.
Hell Will Freeze Over Before Finland Signs Treaty The above snips are Janne's translations (except for one Google Translation in blockquotes, indented a second time) of stories as they appear in Finland. Janne also has some personal comments and a prediction as follows. ...
This deal is a total swindle by bankers: NO more investor responsibility, NO more Private Sector Involvement(PSI). Taxpayers will pay the profits to bankers and speculators. Democracy and Sovereignty crushed. This deal compounds the problems by piling more debt on the fiscally irresponsible and the fiscally prudent ensuring total destruction in all countries of europe in a few years under crushing debt and continual malinvestment and destruction of competetiveness. Taxpayers will pay the future bill IF the markets believe this newest set of fairytales and wishful thinking from the incompetent and anti-democratic EU-leadership duo Merkozy and Brussels bureaucrats. However... The Finnish Parliament will NOT confirm this agreement signed by Jyrki Katainen and this should have been crystal clear to the Merkozy duo before the summit because grand committee of Finnish Parliament stated this clearly in advance. ESM is dead in the water and once again thanks to the arrogant crushers of democracy and destroyers of sovereignty Merkel and Sarkozy absolutely NOTHING has been solved. It would require 133 seats(2/3 of parliament) to approve recent EU-agreement where unanimous decision making has been removed from ESM. Since The Finns party led by Timo Soini and Center Party are both opposed this will NOT happen. Further the Social Democrats (In Finnish government with Coalition party and a bunch of smaller parties) have also said through Finance minister Jutta Urpilainen that they will NOT support majority decisions in ESM and one smaller party Christian Democrats also said the same recently. Practically only real supporter is Mr. Katainen who is the most euro enthusiastic politician in Finland. So hell will freeze over before current EU-agreement which removes unanimity from ESM goes through Finnish Parliament.
Europe's Blithering Idiots Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has some choice (and accurate) words in a scathing attack on Europe's blithering idiots and their flim-flam treaty
As Sir Mervyn King said last week, the disaster was caused by current account imbalances (Spain's deficit, and Germany's surplus), and by capital flows setting off private sector credit booms. The Treaty proposals evade the core issue. Did France and Germany really have to cause this rift by throwing in an assault on the City that has precious little do with the EMU crisis? Yes, I suppose they did. Given that Merkozy cannot bring themselves to accept that Europe's debacle stems from the euro itself, from a 30pc currency misalignment between from North and South, and from an over-leveraged €23 trillion banking bubble that German, French, Dutch, Belgian regulators allowed to happen… given that, yes, I suppose they have to find a scapegoat. They have to whip up a witchhunt against somebody, so why not Anglo-Saxon bankers? Nasty reflexes are at work. German and French politicians in particular should be very careful about inciting populist hatred against a group that makes such easy prey. We have been there before. The Europols have not begun to work out a viable solution to their deformed and unworkable currency union, and perhaps no such solution exists. The system will lurch from crisis to crisis until it blows up in acrimony. Does France, for that matter, really want to be locked into a clammy embrace with an ever stronger Germany? The whole purpose of monetary union for Paris was to tie down a reunited Germany with silken cords. France now finds its own hands tied because of EMU, reduced to a humiliating side-kick. But the vain and hysterical little man now in the Elysée will soon be gone. A leader will emerge once more with a "certaine idée de la France". As for Britain, let us seize the moment of liberation, and enjoy it.
Escape the Euro Prison! I cannot possibly agree more with Pritchard's statement "Seize the moment of liberation, and enjoy it." Indeed Pritchard should be grateful for the arrogance of Merkozy. Cameron's Pledge to "Fight from Within" is entirely wrong. In a highly entertaining video interview with Nigel Farage has exactly the right idea: Escape Euro Prison! Unmitigated Gall and Arrogance Imagine knowing full well that Finland cannot go along with and also knowing full well that voters stand no chance of passing it either. Instead of working with Finland, Merkozy had the gall and arrogance to to relegate Finland to a footnote in the treaty. So yes, this "flim-flam" treaty proposal will blow up in acrimony, probably before March, or it will be further weakened at the insistence of 1 vs. 16. Regardless, the Euro ship is headed down, torpedoed by arrogance of two leaders whose only concern is their own political legacy. Sarkozy and Merkel can bask in the limelight of false hope for now, but both will be gone in the next elections. History will not be kind to Merkozy, nor to Jean-Claude Trichet, nor any of the other Eurofools who think politics trumps economic reality.
