Legal Challenge to Eurozone Bailouts in Finland

Two Finnish citizens have filed a complaint to the Finnish Chancellor of Justice, Jaakko Jonkka, due to the Finnish government’s breaching of the no-bailout clause of the Treaty of the European Union (TEU). The complaint is directed primarily against former Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi and former Minister of Finance (current Prime Minister) Jyrki Katainen.

According to section 115 of the Finnish Constitution, the government is obliged to comply with the law, including the obligations of EU treaties. Article 125 of the Treaty of the European Union prohibits states from taking on the commitments of other Member States. The complainants argue that the making of loans at prices lower than market interest rates between Greece and Finland have led to the effective transition of the financial commitments to the other Member States, thus violating the EU Treaty.

According to the complainants, the Finnish government exceeded its legal mandate breaching the no-bailout clause when Finland granted state bilateral loans to the Hellenic Republic for approximately 1.48 billion euros, and also when Finland took part in establishing European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in May 2010.

The complaint argues that as the leaders of the Finnish government are violating the constitutional Treaty of the EU, the general respect for the law is facing a serious threat among the citizens. To preserve the legal and political morality of the country, the complainants ask Chancellor of Justice Jaakko Jonkka to make a formal notification of the matter to the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Finnish Parliament.

The complaint (in Finnish) is here.

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One reply on “Legal Challenge to Eurozone Bailouts in Finland”
  1. says: Paul Marks

    The recent depressing results of the German legal case leave me with little hope for this legal challenge.

    Lawyers (including judges) now see themselves as primarily part of an elite “planning society” (for the general good).

    The old idea of a judge deciding a case on its merits (either by Common Law or Roman Law methods) is long gone.

    And as the elite regard the E.U. as a good thing…..

    Well how they will decide a legal challenge is already determined.

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