EU wants member countries to co-ordinate budgets

[pampango]

Source: BBC

The European Commission wants EU countries to co-ordinate plans for national budgets in a move to strengthen financial co-operation. It would involve submitting budgets to the EU for a "peer review", possibly before they go to national parliaments.

Some reports suggested the proposal would involve just the 16 countries using the euro currency, though this has not been made clear. The Commission said its aim was to help prevent another EU financial crisis.

But the move, controversial as it would mean encroaching on sovereign territory, was immediately criticised by Sweden's prime minister. Sweden's prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt, opposed any tighter surveillance on his country. "That this should concern all countries is something we find a little strange," he told a press conference.

"This kind of discussion could perhaps be possible for with a budget policy that goes against the stability and growth pact," he said. "But countries like Sweden, we are a shining exception with good public finances and don't even come close to the limits one is not permitted to surpass. It is not fair to treat us the same way."

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/10110890.stm