This WEEK in the European Union
PHILIPPA RUNNER
14.02.2009 @ 10:06 CET
EUOBSERVER / WEEKLY AGENDA (16 - 20 February 2009) - The economic crisis will dominate the Brussels agenda next week, with the future of the EU's fiscal rule book - the Stability and Growth Pact - in question.
Financial affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia will on Wednesday (18 February) give an update on EU states' conformity with the pact, which says public deficits should not run over three percent of GDP.
Money - makes the world go round (Photo: European Commission)
A gang of EU countries including France, Spain, Romania, Greece and Latvia are in 2009 set to break the ceiling, while Ireland is expected to come crashing through with a double figure deficit.
If the European Commission is too strict with culprits, it risks a political backlash as EU governments struggle to contain economic tensions at home. If it is too lenient, one of the pillars of the EU as an economic project risks falling down.
A European Parliament debate on Monday and Tuesday on the prospects for EU economic recovery will precede the Wednesday showdown. Mr Almunia, commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, European Central Bank head Jean Claude Trichet and national MPs will take part.
France is on Tuesday due to reply to commission questions on its multi-billion car industry rescue package, amid worries that knee-jerk protectionism could undermine the single market.
And EU industry commissioner Gunther Verheugen will on Monday meet with Ukrainian leaders in Kiev. Ukraine - one of the EU's largest neighbours - risks economic collapse as industrial production grinds to a halt.
The financial agenda will overshadow the European Parliament's mini-plenary in Brussels on Wednesday, where EU foreign relations chief Javier Solana is to brief MEPs on the union's role in the Middle East peace process.
Eurosceptic Czech president Vaclav Klaus will visit the parliament lion's den on Thursday. Pro-Lisbon treaty MEPs harangued Mr Klaus in Prague last December, while he last week compared the EU to the Soviet Union on eroding national sovereignty.
Kosovo will on Tuesday also celebrate the one year anniversary of its declaration of independence. The EU continues to supervise self-rule in Europe's newest country with the help of its largest ever foreign police mission.
