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Dijsselbloem has been under fire since the end of March after he
made comments in a German newspaper interview that were seen as
derogatory to southern Europeans and that the Portuguese prime
minister Antonio Costa called "xenophobic".
After an informal meeting of euro zone finance ministers in
Malta, Dijsselbloem repeated he did not intend to quit. "I will
continue in my job. There is a lot of work that needs to be
done," he told a news conference after the meeting.
On his arrival to the meeting he told reporters: "I am available
to finish my mandate," when asked whether he would resign.
At the news conference, he said he opened the meeting by telling
ministers he regretted his choice of words in the German
interview, but noted that no minister asked him to resign.
In the interview, Dijsselbloem had suggested that the southern
EU states could not expect aid if they squandered their money on
"booze and women".
His term as chair of the eurogroup ends in January. He has held
the post since 2013, helping to steer the currency union through
its worst crisis since its creation.
The criticism of his controversial remarks, which he said were
not meant to offend anybody, followed a defeat of Dijsselbloem's
center-left party in the March general elections in the
Netherlands, which may force him out from his post as Dutch
finance minister.
But talks to form a new coalition government in the Netherlands
are likely to go on "for quite a while," Dijsselbloem said,
hinting that a compromise may not come before January.
Eurogroup chairs have always been finance or economics
ministers, but no rules prevent incumbents from staying on if
they lose their ministerial job.
Dijsselbloem also said he would speak before the European
Parliament's plenary on April 27, a move to end lawmakers'
uproar after he declined to appear in the chamber of the
Strasbourg-based legislature this week.
Dijsselbloem often appears before the economic affairs committee
of the European parliament but has so far repeatedly declined to
speak before the whole chamber.
(Reporting by Francesco Guarascio @fraguarascio, editing by
Larry King)
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