We will focus on what can be done in the short term

Twenty-seven to take rapid measures to strengthen economic governance and budgetary discipline. And Herman Van Rompuy, the new President of the Council, chose to surf this wave at the risk of encroaching on the prerogatives of José Manuel Barroso, the President of the Commission, visibly irritated by this activism suddenly.

"We fell agree to improve the Stability Pact by establishing new penalties involved as soon as a country will cross the fire orange without delay that it becomes red", has explained, Monday night in Luxembourg, Herman Van Rompuy, who chaired the second meeting of the "task force", composed of the Ministers of finance, responsible for strengthening EU economic governance. These sanctions could intervene before deficits reach the limit of 3 of GDP currently set by the stability and Growth Pact. They could apply to a country which did not consider warnings from partners denouncing a drift of its public accounts or too rapid swelling of its debt. The great paymaster also agreed to give more attention to the evolution of their debt, intended not to exceed 60 of GDP, by triggering, if necessary, procedures for excessive deficit.

Explore new avenues

However, discussions will have to continue on the nature of these new sanctions. The current Treaty provides for the introduction of fines but this possibility has never been used. The Commission was tasked to explore new avenues, such as the suspension of the payment of some aid and community grants. The Germany, for its part, would like to go further, by depriving a lax countries of its voting rights at the Council, which implies an amendment of the treaties, a procedure still very long and requiring unanimity. "We will focus on what can be done in the short term." "But there is no taboo on a modification of the treaties", said Van Rompuy.

Another important advance occurred Monday evening for the test by the Union of projects from national budgets before they are debated and adopted by the parliaments of the Member States. Here again, an agreement seems at hand while the project of the Commission had caused a lift of shields, a few weeks ago still. "It is very important that there is talk the same language in Paris as Brussels avoiding contradictory statements schizophrenia." "We found a very strong agreement of all the Ministers on this point," said Christine Lagarde, French Minister of the economy. "It is not to submit the French budget to the European Commission before submitting it to Parliament." "But to present the budget parameters to the European partners and the Commission: outline, changes, for example balances", she explained. Speaking in the spring, this review would require a country decided to have a high deficit explain himself before his peers.

Better coordination

In the entourage of José Manuel Barroso, it is said agree on the objective, namely better coordination between the economic policies of the countries of the Union, but it expresses reservations about the method advocated by Herman Van Rompuy: the creation of an economic government which he would head. The Commission thus prefers to speak of governance of Government. In clear, agreed to look at how to best work together, but not to create a new structure that would bypass its powers.