Brussels, 20/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - At a three-way institutional negotiating meeting on Tuesday 20 September (see EUROPE 10455), MEPs and the Polish Presidency confirmed their agreement in principle on changes to the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The new rules tighten up budget discipline by introducing the option to issue sanctions at an early stage if a eurozone country spends too much - sanctions which would force it to follow a public debt reduction programme decided in advance for it. The European parliament will officially endorse the deal at its next plenary (in September), once the economic and monetary affairs committee at the EP has discussed it on Tuesday 26 September. The ECOFIN Council will officially endorse the deal on Tuesday 4 October.
The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Durão Barroso, commented: “This is excellent news for Europe. This agreement gives the EU and its member states a powerful tool - one missing until now - to avoid falling into the trap of unsustainable debt. It will also, for the first time, allow us to anticipate the development of macroeconomic imbalances that could pose a threat to the stability of the euro area. And while the emphasis will be on prevention, we will also have the capacity to take corrective action in a swifter and more decisive way than ever before, with greater automaticity in the application of sanctions.” (MB/transl.fl)