Balanced budgets: David v Goliath?

Monsieur Mer’s announcement that France would remain in breach of the 3 percent budget deficit ceiling in 2004 followed by Herr Eichel’s admission that Germany would do the same drives one more nail into the coffin of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP).

The debate in Brussels has taken on a curious David-and-Goliath hue. Much of the financial press seems to have cast the rule-breakers - France and Germany - as the villains while the smaller countries wanting to stick to the rules - Au...