EU pact will have altered meaning

CHANGES to the way the controversial Stability and Growth Pact is interpreted in the future have been unveiled by the European Commission in Brussels.

The proposed move away from a strict enforcement of the 3% budget deficit limit for eurozone governments should reduce tensions between the Commission and Finance Ministers.

It follows the failure of the two largest eurozone economies, Germany and France, to keep their budgets in line and a refusal by their fellow Finance Ministers to impose sanctions against them.