EU sees intense divisions on euro voting rights: EUX.TV report

The October 2010 summit of European Union leaders on Friday almost took the union a big step closer to creating a mechanism that could invoke voting rights for member states that do not stick to rules governing the euro as a single currency. But although European Council President Herman van Rompuy insists he has a mandate, especially from France and Germany, to table a proposal to that effect, other EU leaders said that a suspension of voting rights for an individual member state is simply not going to fly. EUX.TV’s Raymond Frenken reports. PLEASE NOTE THE SUBTITLES/TRANSCRIPT TRANSLATIONS WERE MADE AUTOMATICALLY. ONLY THE ENGLISH VERSION HAS BEEN CHECKED AND VERIFIED. A Franco-German proposal to sanction eurozone budget sinners by stripping them of their EU voting rights faces massive opposition from other countries in the bloc, it emerged after a two-day summit in Brussels on Friday (29 October). EurActiv.com story: twurl.nl EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy avoided giving a direct answer when asked by EurActiv after the summit to comment on the divisive voting rights issue, which has been vigorously pushed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. But European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, who was standing beside him, set the record straight, stating that the mandate given to Van Rompuy excluded “any kind of suspension of voting rights in this revision of the Treaty”. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, meanwhile, said opposition to the Franco …