BRATISLAVA December 7, (WEBNOVINY) — The Cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal for participation of the Slovak delegation lead by Prime Minister Iveta Radicova at the European Council meeting in Brussels on December 9. The summit will focus on the rescue plan for the euro currency. The main topic of the summit will be strengthening of institutional management aimed at achieving tighter economic and monetary union. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy will present possible changes to existing treaties and the Franco-German proposal for establishment of a fiscal union will also be on the table.
Prime Minister Iveta Radicova received a relatively wide mandate from the Parliamentary Committee for European Affairs for the upcoming summit of eurozone leaders in Brussels on December 8 and 9. Deputies for the opposition SMER-SD voted for the resolution that gives Radicova a rather broad mandate, based on which Slovakia supports measures that will bring tighter fiscal rules including automatic strict sanctions, economic growth, new jobs, increase in the living standard of European citizens and will not limit responsible countries. Representatives of the SaS, OKS and SNS parties and one member of the Ordinary People group refrained from voting.
The Prime Minister opines that these measures should be implemented at the soonest possible date. Iveta Radicova received a mandate from the Parliamentary Committee to uphold position of the Slovak Republic for the European Central Bank to maintain its autonomous position. The Prime Minister will also support shortening the process of adoption of the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM). The Primer Minister considers the situation serious enough to rule out the possibility that European leaders would fail to reach agreement on the new rules. Finance Minister Ivan Miklos (SDKU-DS) thinks that refusal of the new rules that the European Commission and Merkel-Sarkozy duo have suggested could mean the end of the euro currency which would have far-reaching consequences.
SITA