Finns Party chair calls for review of bailout fund decision
Opposition Finns Party chair Timo Soini has called on the Chancellor of Justice to say whether or not Parliament was misled during a vote to endorse the EU’s permanent bailout fund, the ESM (European Stability Mechanism).
The preamble to the ESM agreement states that it enjoys seniority status for loans granted to EU governments. This means that borrowing states must pay back ESM loans before any other creditor commitments.
However, the seniority clause was not included in the body of the agreement itself when Parliament voted to support the ESM last month.
Soini told Yle he wants Parliament to revisit the vote, since he says lawmakers did not have sufficient information for the vote.
“Now the debate is about what the form of the ESM agreement means. The seniority of bailout loans is mentioned in the preamble to the agreement, but not in the agreement itself. This is an extremely hot potato in internal politics,” Soini declared.
The Finns Party chair said that it is critical to have the matter settled before the autumn, and if necessary to revisit the vote.
“It would be appropriate for the Chancellor of Justice were to take this on board on his own initiative. He is after all the government’s chancellor of justice. If it’s found that there have been deficiencies in the procedure, then the ESM agreement must be dealt with in Parliament once more,” Soini charged.
Latest in: News
Finland criticised again in Amnesty report
The human rights organisation’s annual report is highly critical of Finland’s treatment of asylum seekers. Finland was condemned for deporting asylum seekers without in-country appeals, and the practice of incarcerating children seeking refugee status in police facilities.
FFE: One in four businesses made a loss in 2012
A quarter of all Finnish firms lost money last year, according to the in-house magazine published by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (FFE).
Baby boomers' alcohol "timebomb" set to hit Finland
Experts fear that retiring baby boomers may over indulge to such an extent that Finland could soon be forced to deal with a large cohort with unusually high levels of alcohol dependence. Incorporating messages about alcohol into basic healthcare will be key to fighting the problem.
Finnish income gap lower than European average
Income differences in Finland are below the average in Europe, according to Statistics Finland. The gap between richest and poorest is largest in Latvia and Bulgaria and smallest in Norway and Iceland.
Two tumble from Töölö balcony
One man died and another was seriously injured on Wednesday morning when they fell from a fifth-floor balcony in the Töölö district of Helsinki.
Evira: Don’t use datura-laced SOK veggies
The Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira has warned consumers not to use a frozen vegetable product sold by the SOK group that was found to be laced with seeds from the highly toxic datura plant.
Itella chops 180 management jobs
The state mail delivery and logistics company launched retrenchment talks in mid-April with the aim of cutting 350 jobs.
Researcher: Bullying should be nipped in the bud
Research shows that small children don’t have an inherent tendency to bully their peers, but learn the practice from others.
"Tästä tulee iso lasku Suomelle" – aikapommi tikittää
Asiantuntijat pelkäävät, että suuret ikäluokat alkavat käyttää alkoholia suuria määriä eläkkeellä. Ehkäisemisen avainasemassa on perusterveydenhuolto.
Met man: Monster tornado also possible in Finland
A meteorologist and storm chaser says that the kind of tornado that recently killed dozens of people in Oklahoma in the USA, is also possible in Finland. Finland suffered extensive destruction in a series of massive twisters that struck in 1932.
