France accepts agreement on the Stability Pact

A marathon meeting of the economics and finance ministers on Thursday finally saw agreement on maintaining the objective of achieving “virtual” budgetary balance by 2004. After more than six hours of negotiation, the Spanish presidency, was able to announce the "unanimous approval of the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines."

The guidelines which set out the way for controlling inflation and reassuring financial markets as part of the 1997 Growth and Stability Pact were most contested by Fr...