Euro Plus Pact in the media II

We continue our European media round-up with the second part concerning the Euro Plus Pact, confirmed by the spring European Council 24 to 25 March 2011.

The political Left is in opposition in much of Europe, and more apt to remember the stimulus part of Keynesian thinking, so we let the blog of Patrick Le Hyaric represent much Left and labour union rhetoric (in French): Pacte pour l'euro, un pacte diabolique (23 March 2011).

Tough language, but vague at the edges, was how RTBF.be described the Euro Plus Pact: Europe: le ”pacte pour l'euro plus”, nouvelle politique de compétitivité aux contours flous (25 March 2011)

Alberto Tuzi discusses the Euro Plus Pact and other economic policy decisions on the Tor Vergata blog (in Italian): Non solo politica al Consiglio europeo di primavera:nouve importanti decisioni sulla governance economica (28 March 2011).

Six non-eurozone countries, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Romania, Lithuania and Latvia are joining the Europact, now called the Euro Plus Pact. This leaves just four EU member states outside: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The interesting EurActiv news report included reasons expressed by country leaders, but the article mistakenly said that Sweden is under no legal obligation to join the eurozone: 'Euro-plus pact' divides non-eurozone members (latest update 28 March 2011).

EUobserver tells us that the annual Euro Plus Pact summits will take place as the same time as the (economic) spring summits of the European Council. The eurozone summit will take place without the four outsiders (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom): Annual euro-pact summits will see refuseniks asked to leave the room (29 March 2011).

Sweden remains outside the Euro Plus Pact, but the defence of the nation state has not changed much between the Swedish political leaders Ingvar Carlsson and Fredirk Reinfeldt, twenty years apart. Ylva Nilsson writes on EU-merabloggen (in Swedish): Euro plus... minus Sverige (25 March 2011).



Ralf Grahn