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Estonian Head of State met with President of European Council

Estonian Head of State met with President of European Council
The President of Estonia, Mr. Toomas Henrik Ilves and thr President of the European Council, Mr. Herman van Rompuy
© The Council of the European Union

08.12.2010

“The problems that the euro area is facing today teach us how to make our monetary union stronger. This includes influencing the economic and budgetary policies of our Member States, if appropriate. This also means well-defined rules to curb the budget deficits of Member States and abiding by these rules,” said the President, Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, at his meeting with Mr. Herman van Rompuy, the President of the European Council.

“Should the crisis mechanism serve as the “last resort” or a solidarity fund? Estonia is in favour of the former,” President Ilves emphasised, in assuring his support for the establishment of a permanent crisis management mechanism for the euro area.

The Estonian Head of State also spoke about the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union, where the detachment of direct aid from production volumes of the past is highly important.

“Today’s direct aid system distorts internal competition within the European Union,” said President Ilves. “Our main goal is to level out the differences in direct aid to agriculture in the EU Member States and ensure the granting of aid to those entities that are actively involved in the production of agricultural produce.”

President Ilves, who spoke about the establishment of the foreign service of the European Union, emphasised that a common EU foreign policy cannot be pursued if it is only directed in one part or Europe.

Tomorrow in Brussels, the Estonian Head of State will meet with Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Secretary General of NATO, and the Vice President of the European Commission, Ms Neelie Kroes, who is also the European Digital Agenda Commissioner, and Mr. Siim Kallas, the European Transport Commissioner.

 

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