Mr Dijsselbloem's remarks on what caused the economic crisis in southern Europe

28.3.2017

Question for oral answer O-000026/2017
to the Council
Rule 128
Fabio De Masi, Marina Albiol Guzmán, Gabriele Zimmer, Dennis de Jong, Anne-Marie Mineur, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Eleonora Forenza, Curzio Maltese, Luke Ming Flanagan, Nikolaos Chountis, Sofia Sakorafa, Miguel Urbán Crespo, Tania González Peñas, Xabier Benito Ziluaga, Lola Sánchez Caldentey, Estefanía Torres Martínez, Neoklis Sylikiotis, Stefan Eck, Dimitrios Papadimoulis, Barbara Spinelli, Cornelia Ernst, Kostas Chrysogonos, Stelios Kouloglou, Miguel Viegas, João Ferreira, João Pimenta Lopes, Anja Hazekamp, Kostadinka Kuneva, Paloma López Bermejo, Helmut Scholz, Marisa Matias, Josu Juaristi Abaunz, Rina Ronja Kari, Sabine Lösing, Ángela Vallina, Takis Hadjigeorgiou, on behalf of the GUE/NGL Group

The President of the Eurogroup and current Dutch finance minister, Mr Dijsselbloem, said in an interview with the German Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) published on 20 March 2017: ‘Being a social democrat I regard solidarity as something very important. However, who asks for it also has duties. I cannot spend all my money on booze and women and after that ask you for financial support. This principle applies to the personal, local, national and European level.’

Does the Council find Mr Dijsselbloem’s wording acceptable and in line with his responsible position? Furthermore, does the Council find Mr Dijsselbloem’s statement on personal spending on women and alcohol followed by a request to others for financial support appropriate in the context of the economic problems of southern Europe? If not, could it please elaborate on what otherwise caused the economic problems?