Ahern demands rule changes in EU stability pact

MULTI-BILLION euro plans to jump-start growth in Europe’s struggling economy became mired in haggling and detail at the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels last night.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern reflected Ireland’s lack of enthusiasm for the competing plans by demanding that the rules of the Growth and Stability Pact be changed instead. This insists that national budgets cannot be more than 3% in the red.

At present, money for projects through public-private partnership is set in the deficit column of a country’s budget on year one, even if it will be spent over a number of years.