MEP claims Sweden negotiated special deal

Sweden has negotiated a deal that it will face no sanction if it breaks the terms of the EU fiscal treaty, a Scandinavian MEP has claimed.

Anti-EU Danish MEP Soren Sondergaard told a meeting organised by those opposed to the forthcoming referendum in Liberty Hall that Sweden agreed to “nothing” when it signed the EU fiscal treaty though it is not a member of the euro zone.

“No fines, no commitments, nothing. They have signed up, but they have exceptions for all the content,” he said.

Mr Sondergaard, who is part of the Danish People’s Movement against the EU, claimed Sweden has been exempted from the potential penalties surrounding the implementation of the fiscal pact because the European Union members wanted the country to sign up to the treaty and they also wanted to avoid a referendum.

Mr Sondergaard, who opposed Denmark’s entry into the EU in 1973, said the Irish electorate now had a chance to speak up for all those who were against the “austerity treaty”. The treaty would mean that the Irish people could vote for any Government they wanted, but they would ultimately be bound by the treaty, he maintained.

In his own country, the electorate had voted for parties which promoted growth and creating jobs above austerity measures in the last general election, he said. He criticised the 0.5 per cent structural deficit target which all countries have signed up to. He said only two countries, Luxembourg and Finland, now met that criteria.