EU fiscal treaty- layman's terms?
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EU fiscal treaty- layman's terms?Can anyone break this down and really simplify it? I am Irish so I can vote on it, but I am inclined not to as I don't understand it at all and I don't think it's right to vote in that situation. In fact, nobody I know really understands it and all of the literature is worded in a way that it's impossible to divine the actual meaning of a yes or no vote.
Of course, if the EU don't get the answer they want there will probably be a revote. But nevertheless, I really do want to understand it and see if I can then form my own take on it. I will vote if I can do this. -
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Re: EU fiscal treaty- layman's terms?Essentially, the EU wants Ireland to sign a treaty meaning that the Irish government's budget would have to balance or be in surplus (so the government can't spend more than it earns). It also requires countries with a debt over 60% of GDP (such as Ireland) to reduce the debt at a rate of 5% per year. Countries that don't follow these rules will be fined by the EU 0.01% of GDP (which is a lot).(Original post by StarsAreFixed)
Can anyone break this down and really simplify it? I am Irish so I can vote on it, but I am inclined not to as I don't understand it at all and I don't think it's right to vote in that situation. In fact, nobody I know really understands it and all of the literature is worded in a way that it's impossible to divine the actual meaning of a yes or no vote.
Of course, if the EU don't get the answer they want there will probably be a revote. But nevertheless, I really do want to understand it and see if I can then form my own take on it. I will vote if I can do this.
My personal opinion is, that it is an economic disaster waiting to happen. By requiring a country to always balance the budget, that means that in times of economic woe, the government can't spend to make things better, but must continue making the problem worse, rather than the conventional system whereby the budget is balanced over the economic cycle (so the budget is in surplus during the good years, and in deficit during the bad years).
- it's one of those things that I'm too embarrassed to ask about (NAMA all over again...don't even get me started on that one!) :P
