Although the rest of the European community is opposed to accepting a change in the Lisbon treaty that would freeze the voting rights of any nation that violates EU's budget constraints, French European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche said of the proposal on Thursday that "there is a sense of realism that will triumph at the end of the day…."
A Reuters report on the EU summit being held Thursday and Friday said that it was expected that EU rulers would accept sanctions against nations violating debit and deficit rules, but the sticking point was over a proposal put forth by Germany and France that would keep fiscal violators from voting.
In a Deutsche Press-Agentur report, Jyrki Katainen, Finnish deputy premier, said, "Many countries are opposing [the suspension of voting rights], so the primary target is to define the best and easiest possible way to build a permanent crisis resolution without treaty change."
Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish prime minister, agreed: "Any sanctions imposed on countries which break the EU's borrowing rules should be economic, not going for voting rights."
