Dutch caretaker prime minister, Mark Rutte, has said he sees no point in discussions about tighter EU integration until concrete action is taken to resolve the eurozone's sovereign debt crisis.
Mr Rutte’s tough comments came as he met EU president Herman Van Rompuy, one of four EU leaders charged with drawing up an integration “master plan” aimed at finally calming the financial markets when it is presented to a summit of European leaders at the end of this month.
The integration drive is being led by Germany, and the plan – on which Mr Van Rompuy is working along with EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso, ECB president Mario Draghi, and Eurogroup chairman Jean-Claude Juncker – is widely expected to propose a new supervisory body for the crippled banking sector as well as closer tax harmonisation between states.
We have to tackle these problems and solve them right now – and not become lost in lengthy structural discussions about the future of Europe”, he said. “Only then, once the immediate debt crisis has been resolved, will there be a firm base from which to reform the structure of the alliance – and tackle issues such as banking supervision.”
Mr Rutte is under growing pressure at home as a €13 billion austerity package agreed by the two minority coalition partners and three smaller parties last month continues to unravel.
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