Ministers agree on stability pact reform – but not on the extent

European Union Finance Ministers meeting on the first day of the Ecofin Council in Scheveningen on 10 September 2004 agreed to reform the Stability Pact but significant differences remain over the extent to which the rules should be watered down. Ministers could not agree on how to define the 'exceptional circumstances' under which Member States can run big deficits.

Also at the Council meeting, Ministers appointed Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister of Luxembourg, as the first President of the Eurogroup (known informally as 'Mr Euro'). He will take up his post in January 2005.

European Commission: Memo: MEMO/04/214 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=MEMO/04/214&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

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