Finland insists Greek collateral demand stands

(HELSINKI) - Finland said Friday it would stick to demands for collateral in exchange for backing Greece's debt rescue package during negotiations next week with Germany and the Netherlands.

"Our position is still that Finland will agree to guarantee the loans in rescue packages only in exchange for collateral," Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen told reporters after meeting the parliamentary committee that sets EU policy.

Urpilainen is scheduled to meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble and Dutch Finance Minister Jaan Kees de Jager in Berlin next Tuesday.

In addition, she will meet President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy in Helsinki on Monday.

Finland's bilateral deal with Greece on cash collateral in exchange for loan guarantees, announced August 16, was swiftly criticised by several eurozone countries, including Germany, and appeared to put the debt bailout at risk.

Since then the Finnish government has said that it would seek to find a collateral agreement that was acceptable to the bloc but that some form of collateral was still a criteria.

"We are negotiating on a daily basis and we are committed to finding a solution that will satisfy all the eurozone countries," Urpilainen said.

She refused to give any details on potential compromises, saying they were looking at "several models" for collateral.

The committee reiterated Friday that it does not intend to change Finland's stand.

Urpilainen or Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen do not have the authority to unilaterally change the country's official position without the green light from the committee.

"However the committee does not have a strong opinion on what form the collateral takes or what kind of collateral it will be," committee chairwoman Miapetra Kumpula-Natri told reporters after the meeting Friday.