Brussels, 06/12/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed the decision of the European Central Bank to cut its base interest rates and indicated that the ECB now had to monitor the economic situation very closely and see if another cut was possible if the economic situation continued to worsen. According to the ETUC, rates of 2.5% are still relatively high (in the USA they are 1.25%). The ETUC adds that "action by the EU monetary authority must currently be supported by a budgetary authority. In this context, the ETUC points out that Commission is proposing that the Growth and Stability Pact is interpreted "intelligently" for whom in the face of permanent deflationary pressures, it would be ill-advised to wait until the spring summit of 2003 makes its views known on the Commission proposals, before taking action.