Germany says any tough EU deficit taming measures "misplaced"
Sat Nov 15, 3:18 PM ET Add Business - AFP to My Yahoo!
FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) - Tough new measures from the European Commission (news - web sites) to reduce Germany's public deficit, which is in contravention of EU guidelines, would be "misplaced", German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said.
AFP/DDP/File Photo
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"A toughening of the procedure would be misplaced given Germany's cooperation" with the EU, Eichel said in a column for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.
"In its January 2003 recommendation, the European Commission explicitly said that Germany should not take extra steps if growth was less than expected," Eichel said.
Four months on, the commission judged Germany's steps to boost stability as "sufficient", he said.
Eichel's comments come ahead of European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pedro Solbes' unveiling Tuesday of recommendations to EU member states that Germany take to reduce its deficit.
The EU Stability and Growth Pact for the 12 nations using the single currency seeks to underpin the euro by setting a limit on public deficits run up by governments of 3.0 percent of gross domestic product (GDP (news - web sites)).
But Germany has openly flouted those rules, allowing its public deficits to soar above the 3.0-percent ceiling last year and shows little inclination to do anything about it either this year or next.
Berlin, along with Paris, could face stiff financial penalties from the commission in Brussels for failing to get their finances in order.
"The pact is not a penal code but a flexible politico-economic instrument," Eichel maintained. |
