by Colman
Wed Apr 4th, 2012 at 07:08:13 AM EST
The Irish Oireachtas (Dail and Senate) is holding hearings on the upcoming referendum. Today we have assorted ambassadors telling us why it's such a good idea:
Danish ambassador Niels Pultz said his government believed the fiscal treaty was a necessary instrument in the EU’s “common toolbox” and “should be seen as an important part of the EU’s wider efforts to combat the debt crisis”.
Addressing the first meeting of the Sub-Committee on the Referendum on the Fiscal Stability Treaty, which continues today, he said: “If all European countries had conducted sound and sustainable economic and fiscal policies in accordance with the fiscal compact, Europe would most likely not have experienced the sovereign debt crisis.”
This in a country that would have been unaffected by the constraints in the run-up to the crisis. As if the EU would have been telling their poster child for "reform" to do things differently.
The Greek Ambassador tells us:
Greek ambassador Constantina Zagorianou-Prifti said “the treaty was relatively easy for us” and “almost natural for us to accept” because “we knew the need for a new tool” for the EU.
She said “the sacrifices of the Greek people are producing results”. The primary deficit had been significantly reduced within just two years, and it had significantly regained competitiveness.
Yup,
results. I guess a 77 year old shooting himself in Syntagma counts as reducing pension spending. Or possibly as a sacrifice.
