UPDATE 1-Dutch parliament postpones EFSF debate
Reuters - 08/09/2011 16:57:41
* Dutch parliament wants more time to study EFSF powers
* New EFSF raises Dutch guarantees to 100 bln euros -MinFin
* New date for parliament debate set for Sept. 14
(Adds parliament, MP comment)
By Gilbert Kreijger
THE HAGUE, Sept 8 (Reuters) -
Dutch members of parliament on Thursday postponed a debate on extending the powers of the euro zone's bailout fund so that they had more time to study the proposals, a further sign of growing scepticism towards the moves in some EU states.
Euro zone leaders want national parliaments to move as fast as possible to approve the new European Financial Stability Fund's (EFSF) powers as this could help stabilise financial markets, but some parliaments are proving hard to win over. (
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The new powers will give the EFSF the ability to buy the bonds of countries under attack from debt markets and expands its effective capacity, following agreement on this by European leaders in July.
"The announcement to change the EFSF and the Dutch guarantees are so substantial we need to discuss this with the whole GreenLeft faction. Guarantees will go from 56 billion euros to 100 billion," said Bruno Braakhuis, a member of parliament for the small GreenLeft party.
The minority coalition government faces increased scepticism in parliament over the euro zone bailouts.
That reflects a deep divide in public opinion, disgruntlement over the issue of Greek collateral for Finland in return for aid, and a row between the government and opposition parties over Prime Minister Mark Rutte's comments regarding the cost of bailouts and extent of private sector participation. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Key political risks to watch in the Netherlands (
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Majority of Dutch want Greece out of euro zone (
news) Dutch govt may lose Greek bailout support (
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Dutch govt: euro zone exit should be possible (
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COALITION BREAK
The Liberal-Christian Democrat coalition will have to rely on opposition parties to pass the euro zone bailout measures because its political ally, the Freedom Party, opposes rescues and wants Greece to leave the euro zone.
The two government parties jointly control 52 seats of a total of 150 in parliament.
Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said in a letter sent to parliament on Wednesday that he wanted to ask the parliament's financial committee to approve the new EFSF powers. But a spokesman for parliament said that gave members too little time to prepare for Thursday's debate.
Among the opposition parties, the pro-European Labour party -- which is the second-largest party after the Liberals in parliament with 30 seats -- as well as GreenLeft and D66, which each have 10 seats, have so far supported euro zone bailout measures, reflecting the belief that the single currency remains of substantial benefit to the export-focused Dutch economy.
The new debate on EFSF by parliament's financial committee will take place on Sept. 14, a parliament spokesman said. Formal voting is expected later in September during a plenary meeting with the whole parliament. (Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger; Editing by Sara Webb and Patrick Graham)