Brussels, 16/03/2005 (Agence Europe) - Reiterating that an agreement from the 25 on the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact remains hypothetical, the President of the European Council Jean-Claude Juncker emphasised in an interview with the French daily newspaper Le Figaro on Wednesday that “some countries, such as the UK, do not accept the Luxembourg Presidency's proposals” and want “more flexibility in the application of the Stability and Growth Pact”. Having indicated at the last Ecofin Council that the heads of state and government at the Spring Council might not receive a text from the finance ministers (who are due to hold an extraordinary meeting on 20 March: EUROPE of 9 March, p.7), Mr Juncker does not rule out declining to present a list of extenuating circumstances. Asked about the difficulties raised by his proposal of a list of relevant factors to be taken into account in assessing a country's budgetary situation, Mr Juncker acknowledged that “we are considering getting rid of it”. Without such a framework drawn up in advance, a Member State whose budgetary deficit exceeds 3% would have to “explain it in detail and draw up its own list”, the Commission then being charged with assessing it, he said. To the Frankfurter Allgemeine of Wednesday; Mr Juncker did not elaborate on what he intended to do about the costs incurred by German reunification, but he expressed surprise that some of his colleagues had mocked the German request. In the Luxembourg Prime Minister's view, the crucial thing is to “reaffirm the principles of the Treaty: if it occurs, going beyond the 3% threshold must be minimal and temporary” and to ensure that, in “favourable economic situations”, everything possible is “done to reduce deficits and build up budgetary reserves”.
Following the meeting of the finance ministers on 20 March, an agreement on the reform of the Pact is expected at the European Council on 22 and 23 March. “Once the reform of the Pact has been passed, I hope to invest more of my efforts into coordinating economic policies”, Mr Juncker announced to Le Figaro, hoping that within the Eurogroup, which he chairs, “we will have discussions about the twelve budgets of the euro zone, not to harmonise our budgetary policies, but to exchange information about the public investments which we are planning to undertake”.