Eurogroup chief ‘worried’ about application of euro rules

BRUSSELS – The head of the group of 19 nations using the euro says he’s “very worried” that the European Union’s executive Commission appears to be favouring bigger member states in applying the single-currency rule book.

Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem told EU lawmakers Tuesday that “I can sense it in Eurogroup meetings that ministers are becoming a little concerned about this.”

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said last month that France was allowed flexibility on the rules known as the Stability and Growth Pact “because it is France.”

Dijsselbloem says that kind of comment “feeds into a concern that particularly small member states have, that large member states get different treatment.”

He says: “This is not good. This is about the confidence between us.”