Austerity versus growth debate a ‘false dilemma’ says Tusk
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
29.05.2012 15:01
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk, in Rome for inter-government talks, has said the split over ‘austerity’ and ‘growth' which has emerged in the EU is a “false dilemma”.
Donald Tusk with Mario Monti, Tuesday, in Rome: photo - PAP/Radek Pietruszka
Just as it is crucial that savings be made by governments, “too much belt-tightening can kill the economy,” Donald Tusk told the Italian La Repubblica ahead of the talks with his counterpart, Mario Monti on Tuesday.
Tusk was referring to the two different emphasis coming out of Berlin and the new president in Paris over remedies to the current finance crisis in the eurozone, with Francios Hollande urging more growth policies and Chacellor Merkel adamant to pursue austerity and cuts in spending.
On the current finance crisis in Europe, Tusk said: “Although Poland is not in the eurozone, we realize that its stability is crucial to the future of Europe. Therefore, priority must be to defend the common European currency.”
PM Tusk told reporters, Tuesday, that Poland and Italy have a similar vision for European economic policy.
“ We have similar views when it comes to the future of the European budget [from 2014 onwards] and jointly and independently we both say that Europe needs a bigger budget and needs a cohesion policy [to close the gap between the EU’s richer and poorer state],” Tusk said.
Accompanying the prime minister to the Italian capital are Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, Defence Minister Tomasz Siemoniak, Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski, Culture Minister Bogdan Zdrojewski and minister of agriculture Marek Sawicki. (pg)