BRUSSELS, December 9, (WEBNIOVINY) – This Friday, Prime Minister Iveta Radicova held a short briefing where she informed the media that EU leaders agreed upon new, stricter rules for the euro zone at the ongoing summit in Brussels. Radicova thus confirmed previous statements of French President Nicolas Sarkozy; Sarkozy was the only national leader who gave the media information on the talks after the first day was over.
Radicova said she welcomed the full agreement on the mechanism of automatic sanctions, which was one of the main issues to be discussed on the summit labeled as a milestone one. Punishing problematic countries for not obeying budget rules was possible even in the past, but the system of sanctions is to get automated. Twenty-three EU countries including Slovakia agreed with stricter sanctions. „It is not possible that one country vetoes the system of automatic sanctions,“ said Radicova hinting to non-members of the European Monetary Union that failed to support the changes. Also, the European Stability Mechanism is to be launched in July 2012, a year ahead of schedule. The Lisbon Treaty should also be changed through intergovernmental treaties. Radicova also informed that countries which are not members of the euro zone can join the treaty.
SITA