Ilves, Juncker call for fiscal responsibility in eurozone

TALLINN -- The eurozone's newest member and its richest per-capita member have called for greater fiscal responsibility from eurozone countries, saying that the EU and EC "need a strong backbone".

The comments come as Estonian President Toomas Hendrick Ilves and the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jean-Claude Juncker, met in Tallinn this week to discuss the participation of smaller countries in making EU decisions.

“We need a responsible economic policy from all – and I mean all – countries of the euro zone, which means that everyone must look and see beyond immediate internal policy interests,” Ilves said in a press release following the meeting.

“In this regard, both the European Commission and the European Union need a strong backbone, which connects and, if necessary, smoothes out any differences, while providing all the Member States – regardless of their size – an equal position,” he said.

In addition to being the richest and the poorest eurozone members, Luxembourg and Estonia are also the two smallest countries in the currency bloc.