FRANKFURT (MNI) – The European Commission’s current fiscal
governance proposals will focus on sanctions for Eurozone members who
fail to keep spending in check, but legislation is also being prepared
to penalize European Union states outside the monetary union that fail
to comply with the EU’s debt and deficit rules, Monetary Commissioner
Olli Rehn said in an interview with the Financial Times published
Wednesday.
Rehn told the business daily that the proposals for the Eurozone
had been designed in anticipation of additional legislation that would
allow sanctions against non-EMU states, including withholding “the
widest possible scope” of funds for offenders.
“In the case of the other EU member states, we would have to use EU
expenditures, and in that case, regulations would have to be amended one
by one,” Rehn said. “So, we cannot have one overall, catch-all
regulation to cover all of this.”
Although UK authorities have not yet seen the proposal, the island
nation has an opt-out from EU debt and deficit regulations, and is thus
protected from any sanction threats, the FT said.
On the continent, other non-Eurozone members, including Sweden,
Poland and the Czech Republic, expressed broad support for sanctions.
— Frankfurt bureau: +49-69-720 142; email: frankfurt@marketnews.com —
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