Swedish government and opposition agree on fiscal compact terms

Stockholm (dpa) - The Swedish government and the main opposition party have agreed on conditions for the country to sign up to the so-called fiscal compact being negotiated by the European Union, a government official said Friday.

"We have agreed that the fiscal compact should not entail any legal commitments for Sweden," State Secretary Katarina Areskoug Mascarenas told parliament‘s EU affairs committee.

Another condition was that Sweden should have a say at eurozone summits when the fiscal pact is debated, according to the agreement with the opposition Social Democrats.

EU leaders are set to debate the fiscal compact Monday in Brussels.

Sweden is not a member of the eurozone and in a 2003 referendum rejected an introduction of the euro.

Areskoug said that Sweden would benefit from joining the fiscal compact since it would help strengthen budget discipline and restore confidence in the eurozone, a key trading area for Sweden.

The state secretary briefed the EU affairs committee on behalf of Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt who was absent due to illness.

EU affairs committee member Marie Granlund of the Social Democrats urged the government to "negotiate skilfully" to achieve the goals.

The opposition Green Party and Left Party said they remained opposed joining the compact as they feared it was a step towards Swedish membership of the euro. dpa lsm bve Author: Lennart Simonsson