EU president says 25 of 27 EU states join fiscal pact
January 31, 2012
EU leaders hold their first summit of the year to finalise a new German-driven pact to toughen budget discipline
EU president Herman Van Rompuy announced Monday that all EU nations except Britain and the Czech Republic agreed at a summit to join a fiscal pact aimed at preventing future debt crises.
Van Rompuy wrote on Twitter: "25 member states join and will sign the fiscal compact."
Britain had already refused to join the pact in December while officials said the Czech Republic indicated that it must first secure ratification back home before it can take part.
The pact, pushed by Germany, will require governments to introduce laws on balanced budgets and impose near automatic sanctions on countries that violate deficit rules.
An agreement emerged after France and Poland overcame a dispute over Polish demands for non-euro nations to have a seat at eurozone summits.
The treaty must be formally signed in early March and will come into force once 12 nations have ratified it.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy voiced suprise at Prague's U-turn on the pact after the country had backed the project at the December summit.
"Why is it that something acceptable in December no long is today?" Sarkozy said at a post-summit press conference.
AFP
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pik, great idea but real muslims wouldnt behave like the animals in the fpi. They might use the name of islam, but... -
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Well seen KampungHighlander !! he will also be spending the ill gotten gain amassed during the fastuous period. This is the definition of IDIOT++ ( -
8:18pm | Hard-Line FPI Buys 150 Tickets...
Haha this is so funny. I bet they all will enjoy the concert when their inside. Gosh what a joke,the whole world ( well apart from arabic nation) i -
8:16pm | Hard-Line FPI Buys 150 Tickets...
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Yeah, I couldn't resist this one. It was only a matter of time before Greenpeace got their comeuppance for they way they reported that ramin story
