Eurozone Finance Ministers met in Luxembourg yesterday to delay a decision on giving Greece the next installment of bailout cash. The announcement came after Greece said it could not meet this year's deficit cutting target. However, according to the BBC, the finance ministers had spend their time negotiating "a deal to let Finland receive collateral as security for its contribution towards the eurozone bailout fund - the European Financial Stability Fund". As, "the Finns had threatened to block further bailouts to Greece unless it received this special arrangement", due to their newly elected right wing coalition governments reservations towards supporting a Greek bailout.
Never before have smaller states such as Finland, had so much power in defining the future of the EU. Certainly, they knew when they joined the EU that they would have a bigger say in the eurozone but I don't think anyone thought that they would be responsible for accepting the responsibility for such high profile global scenarios as a Greek and maybe even a Spanish bail out.
I understand the new Finnish governments worries and concerns, I am half Finnish. However, they signed up for this when they ratified the Lisbon treaty. Finland is one of the first Eurozone countries to see their country turn to right after recent elections, due in part to the global recession. The major EU countries are treading a thin line and creating a think president, as more Eurozone countries, big and small will look for similar preferential treatment.
Never before have such small states held such big power, it will be interesting how they use it. But guess what - the EU is today no closer to fixing it's currently broken system (not to mention solving the Greek debt crisis).
- Roy
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