Brussels, 28/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Immediately before the European Council, the main leaders of the Right and Centre-Right in Europe, members of the European People's Party (EPP), meeting in Meise near Brussels on Thursday, showed openness on the principle of slight amendment of the EU Treaty to change euro area budget rules following the Greek crisis. “There is a real desire for specific changes to the Treaty, but no one said what these changes might be because there will be no discussion on the substance,” Finnish Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said after the meeting. “While amendment of the Treaty seems obvious, we have to see where the changes will take place and who will be responsible for drafting them,” he added, stating that amendment of the Treaty would be the last stage in the process. Change is being called for by Germany, supported by France - Germany fears deadlock in its constitutional court over the creation of a rescue fund for countries in severe difficulty. The President of the European Council and the European Commission might be called on to examine how the fund could be put in place and to consider amendment of the Treaty so that it might be done. José Manuel Barroso said on Thursday that he was happy to “discuss” amending the Treaty, but only to a limited extent. “We are open to discussion, but we must be careful to make only very limited change to the Treaty, so that no referendums are needed,” said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. In addition, he added, it was a “very risky” exercise because once the Treaty has been re-opened, it is always difficult to close it again. German Chancellor Angela Merkel did not move fro her demand for a change to the Treaty and stated once again that she was perfectly willing to see countries which did not stick to the rules lose their voting rights. Her view on this point is not, however, shared by the other European countries. “This is an idea that must not be followed up,” said Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker. “Not abiding by budget rules is serious, but not as serious as violation of human rights,” he added. Barroso said on Thursday that the loss of voting rights was “unacceptable”. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk described the proposal as “exotic” and “unlikely”. French President Nicolas Sarkozy complained on Thursday of the criticism last week from Commission Vice-President Viviane Reding who spoke of “Franco-German diktat,” Orban confirmed. “France is a proud country. You cannot insult France without suffering consequences,” he added. Sarkozy and Barroso left the meeting on good terms, however, as they shared a car to the European Council. (B.C./transl.rt)