Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen: Europe needs growthsterity - not eurobonds

The Prime Minister of Finland Mr. Jyrki Katainen encourages European Union not to choose between growth and austerity when it is seeking long term solutions on how to boost European economy but rather to find ways of having both - growth and austerity. Prime Minister Katainen is attending the EU-leaders informal dinner in Brussels today.

"The recipe for sustainable growth is clear: at the national level we need budgetary discipline to regain the confidence. And we need structural reforms that make us competitive again. This recipe is something that I call "growthsterity" and it is a policy that Finland has been conducting", Katainen states.

Prime Minister Katainen reminds that every European Union nation needs to stick to the commitments nations have made in order to bring budget deficits under control. Member states must also create better conditions for entrepreneurship, employment and innovation. On the EU-level, the greatest growth potential lies in the development of the internal market and in deepening the trade relations with the partners of EU. Market integration is the best engine for growth.

Finland does not support the eurobonds, Prime Minister Katainen states. "Eurobonds would not have prevented the current crisis and they would not provide a lasting solution to it. Instead we need solutions that would not put at risk euro area's unity and sustainability. In fact, we have those solutions with our new rules and instruments. Now we need to implement them".