–FinMin Says Dutch Govt Might Propose ECB Wellink To Succeed Trichet
–Slovakian FinMin Calls For Fairer Distribution Of Cost Of Euro Support

FRANKFURT (MNI) – Additional Eurozone member states could require
financial assistance, Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager was
quoted as saying in a newspaper interview released Sunday.

De Jager told German daily Die Welt, “I do not exclude that other
countries will apply for assistance from the rescue fund. But that is
the very point of the fund: to help countries if they need money.”

The money the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has at
its disposal is sufficient for now, he said, noting that the sum
available for lending would be boosted to E440 billion if needed.

“I hope that the Netherlands will work closely together in the
coming months with Germany and Finland to improve the budgetary
discipline in the Eurozone as much as possible,” he added.

“We need the support of our German neighbors in pushing through
obligatory measures that lead to more reforms and more fiscal policy
stability in Europe,” he continued.

It would be “fatal” if Europe were to find itself again in a
situation like that of 2005, when the Stability and Growth Pact was
softened at the behest of key members including Germany and France, he
said.

According to Die Welt, de Jager’s Slovakian counterpart, Ivan
Miklos, demanded a different distribution key for determining the
contribution of member states in funding the permanent European
Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is to succeed the EFSF in mid-2013.

“According to the distribution key so far, poorer euro countries
must pay much more relative to their economic strength than rich
countries,” Miklos said, arguing that Slovakia currently pays twice as
much as Luxembourg into the EFSF, and that this is “unfair.”

In a domestic television interview also publicized Sunday, de Jager
suggested that the Dutch government might propose European Central Bank
Governing Council member Nout Wellink, who heads the the Netherlands’
central bank, as a successor to outgoing ECB President Jean-Claude
Trichet.

“We have to wait for the developments because there are several
candidates,” de Jager said. “But the favorite candidate from Germany is
out of the running and the race seems to be wide open. If this would
result in new insights, then we will think about it.”

He added: “The first ECB president was a Dutchman, [Wim]
Duisenberg, and now we have a Frenchman, so it would be strange to have
a Dutchman again, but Duisenberg did not fully complete his term.”

–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com

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