Crucial euro pact decision to be taken next week
RICHARD CARTER
08.01.2004 @ 17:47 CET
The European Commission will decide next Tuesday (13 January) whether to take legal action against member states for backing the effective suspension of key euro rules.
According to Gerassimos Thomas, the Commission's spokesperson for economic and monetary affairs, the Brussels-based body will decide at its weekly meeting next Tuesday whether to take the legal action route.
The decision will be absolutely crucial to the Commission's role of guardian of the EU treaties - which has often put it in conflict with member states.
Meanwhile Stuttgarter Zeitung reports that Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes has not yet made up his mind how to proceed, citing unnamed Commission sources.
The Commission announced yesterday that it had received an opinion from its legal office saying that member states acted illegally when, last November, they voted to suspend disciplinary measures against France and Germany for breaching the Stability Pact - the rules that underpin the euro.
ECB backs pact
The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Jean-Claude Trichet, emphasised the importance of the rules today, suggesting that the ECB might back the Commission if a legal action was initiated.
Speaking after a governing council meeting today (8 January) - at which euro zone interest rates were left on hold as expected at two percent - Mr Trichet said that the euro rules were "of central importance" and "must be fully respected".
Mr Trichet added, "These [the rules] are the foundations for trust and confidence in EMU. They are key not only to stability but also to growth".
