Danish Lawmaker Warns Against Letting Bankers Decide on Nations’ Future

Nikolaj Villumsen, a Danish lawmaker, urged member states of the Council of Europe to address and ease the threat of climate change, which must be "an integrated part of our economic policies."

STRASBOURG (Sputnik), Daria Chernyshova – The 47 countries that comprise the Council of Europe should observe and learn from the recent financial crisis to not let bankers decide on a nation's future, a Danish lawmaker said Wednesday.

"It is important that we in this Assembly and our member states learn the lessons of the financial crisis. We need to regulate the financial system…We should not let bankers and speculators once again decide the fate of our nations. We should not again let the financial sector create a crisis leading to huge social destruction in our societies," Nikolaj Villumsen said in his address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

He also urged member states of the Council of Europe to address and ease the threat of climate change, which must be "an integrated part of our economic policies."

The lawmaker pointed out that the hotly-debated EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal, currently in highly secret negotiations, could ease the way for large multinational corporations to ignore or violate "the rules of democracy."

"It is crucial for our Assembly to bear in mind that democracy should be safeguarded in trade agreements as well," Villumsen said, adding that economic and trade policies must also be subject to regulation.

The lawmaker observed that the failed austerity policies of the European Union must be revised.