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A key parliamentary committee that sets Finland’s EU policy will decide Friday on its stance on a EU bailout to Portugal, a lawmaker said Tuesday, as talks on the matter stalled.
Finland’s Social Democrats, who are critical to ensuring parliamentary support for the Portugal bailout, said they wanted to negotiate a set of conditions on investor responsibility to be attached to the package.
Finland is the only EU country that needs its parliament’s approval of Portugal’s rescue package, and one of only six eurozone countries to have a triple-A credit rating, making it a crucial backer of EU bailout packages.
The committee that sets Finland’s EU policy was due to decide on the bailout on Wednesday, but it is not on the agenda as political parties were unable to agree on a proposal, said Social Democrat Miiapetra Kumpula-Natri.
The committee’s decision is crucial because it will determine Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen’s position at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on May 16.