Brussels, 24/11/2003 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of a decisive Ecofin Council for Germany (see p.7), the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, said that smaller countries, which got a "yellow card" for failing to respect the Stability Pact, would like to see the same strictness meted out to the larger ones, and that "rules are rules: we must be strict, and France and Germany must face sanctions like anybody else". He added that "as a President who comes from a small country, however, I wonder whether any action which may hinder growth in two of our main economies would be much help to the smaller countries of the Union and the Union as a whole". According to the Irish Liberal, the imperative these days is to boost growth, and the Ecofin Council should therefore ask itself whether it is a good idea to impose restrictions on the French and German economies just as they are starting to get out of economic downturn.
The Chairman of the Liberal Group, Graham Watson, disagreed entirely, saying: "Germany has been the main architect of a system which is destined to ensure economic and monetary stability (...) unfortunately, it is undermining what remains of the Stability Pact's credibility by rejecting the recommendations" of the European Commission. "A little humility", the British Liberal told Germany.
Even harsher was the Chairman of the EPP-ED group, Hans-Gert Pöttering, who reiterated: "we must not give the impression that existing European rules are negotiable or can be ignored thanks to blocking minorities". The CDU MEP warned his country's government: "If the Commission and the Council do not wish to defence the Stability Pact, the European electorate will draw the consequences in the European elections in 2004".