Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

TaxBrackets.org via Flickr/Creative Commons

YOUR Fiscal Compact questions: We have the information.

We asked TheJournal.ie’s users to put forward their questions about what the Fiscal Compact actually MEANS and we would get straightforward answers. Here’s how we got on.

LAST WEEK, THEJOURNAL.IE issued a callout to you, our readers and fellow citizens and voters, on the question of the Fiscal Compact referendum.

We wanted to know what YOU wanted to know about the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union (official title).

First, we picked the most commonly-asked questions you submitted on points that you didn’t understand or wanted clarified in the wording of the treaty.

Then we posed those questions to two independent bodies here (the Referendum Commission) and in the EU (the European Policy Centre), as well as to a representative each of the ‘No’ and the ‘Yes’ side.

This what they told us:

Read more: TheJournal.ie‘s Fiscal Compact referendum articles>

Translated: The Fiscal Compact rewritten in layman’s terms>

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
4 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kerry Blake
    Favourite Kerry Blake
    Report
    May 30th 2012, 10:40 AM

    Good one thejournal. Many thanks.

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute vv7k7Z3c
    Favourite vv7k7Z3c
    Report
    May 30th 2012, 10:50 AM

    Thanks Kerry. It might not answer all our questions but it’s a start…

    14
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Conor Mulvagh
    Favourite Conor Mulvagh
    Report
    May 30th 2012, 11:42 AM

    I asked this question of my local Labour TD. I was wondering if anyone else could advise on a concern I have.

    Does this treaty guarantee good housekeeping for all or will the 12/17 rule mean that bailout economies sign up to a punitive fines system while Germany and France carry on overspending as they have in the past?

    Conor Mulvagh to Kevin Humphreys TD (via facebook):

    Hi Kevin,

    I’m concerned about something which has been prominent in Labour’s treaty campaign and I consider to be a misrepresentation of the facts. It was stated by Emer Costello MEP in an official labour party leaflet I received and again today by an Tánaiste on morning Ireland that this treaty will guarantee ‘good housekeeping for ALL the members of the Eurozone.’ However, the treaty clearly states that only 12 of the 17 members must ratify this treaty thus signing up to the fines system designed to reinforce the Maastricht rules.

    Can you tell me what will happen in the event (which is not beyond the realm of possibility at this point) that the German Bundestag don’t sign up to this treaty and Mr Hollande in France does the same. Is it possible that peripheral ‘economically quarantined’ states of the Eurozone will sign up to the fines system in this treaty but that the core of the Eurozone will be free to breach the Maastricht rules yet again in pursuit of a growth agenda as they have done in the past.

    In growth, as in austerity, Ireland has been a model member of the Eurozone and we only went outside the Maastricht criteria in 2008 in circumstances that could only be described as unprecedented and exceptional. Germany and France meanwhile have frequently run roughshod over agreed European budget rules long before the economic crisis.

    The table here illustrates nicely my point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stability_and_Growth_Pact#Member_states_by_SGP_criteria.

    The same point has also been made in Der Spiegel and this is a serious issue in Germany, but not here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-ticking-euro-bomb-how-the-euro-zone-ignored-its-own-rules-a-790333.html

    I foresee a Europe where none of this will change through our ratification of the treaty. Can you please clarify your party’s message that this treaty will guarantee ‘good housekeeping for ALL’ in light of the above.

    Many thanks in advance,

    Conor Mulvagh

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute vv7k7Z3c
    Favourite vv7k7Z3c
    Report
    May 30th 2012, 11:44 AM

    Thanks for that Conor.

    9
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds