BELGIUM: EUROPEAN LEADERS ENDORSE LOOSER BUDGET DEFICIT RULES AND BACKTRACK ON PLAN TO LIBERALISE MARKET FOR SERVICES
Record ID:
647308
BELGIUM: EUROPEAN LEADERS ENDORSE LOOSER BUDGET DEFICIT RULES AND BACKTRACK ON PLAN TO LIBERALISE MARKET FOR SERVICES
- Title: BELGIUM: EUROPEAN LEADERS ENDORSE LOOSER BUDGET DEFICIT RULES AND BACKTRACK ON PLAN TO LIBERALISE MARKET FOR SERVICES
- Date: 24th March 2005
- Summary: (W5)BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (MARCH 22, 2005) (POOL) 1. SLV PAN ROUND TABLE; MV FRENCH PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC AND GERMAN CHANCELLOR GERHARD SCHROEDER TALKING 0.15 2. MV PEOPLE INCLUDING POLISH PRIME MINISTER MAREK BELKA; MV GERHARD SCHROEDER AND GERMAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS JOSCHKA FISCHER SITTING 0.30 3. MV LUXEMBOURG PRIME MINISTER JEAN CLAUDE JUNCKER TALKING 0.34 4. MV BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR SPEAKING WITH A GROUP OF PEOPLE AND LEAVING TO ENTER ROOM; WIDE OF MEETING ROOM 0.50 5. SCU SPANISH PRIME MINISTER JOSE LUIS ZAPATERO GETING READY FOR FAMILY PHOTO 0.54 6. SLOVENIA FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER DIMITRIJ RUPEL WITH DENMARK MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AAFFAIRS PER STIG MOELLER; SCU JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, PRESIDENT OF THE COMMISSION 1.01 WIDE OF FAMILY PHOTO 1.07 7. SCU JAN PETER BALKENENDE, DUTCH PRIME MINISTER 1.10 SCU CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER/ ESTONIAN PRIME MINISTER JUHAN PARTS; SCU BRITISH PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR; PAN FAMILY PHOTO; WIDE OF FAMILY PHOTO 1.31 8. WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE 1.41 9. SOUNDBITE (French) JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, LUXEMBOURG PRIME MINISTER AND EU COUNCIL PRESIDENT SAYING : "We started a debate in the council on the conclusions that the presidency have proposed for the stability and growth pact. These presidency conclusions were accepted there and then. And a number of heads of states and of governements did praise the presidency conclusions. So therefore conclusions on the stability and growth pact have been adopted." 2.18 10. MEDIA 2.22 11. SOUNDBITE (FRENCH) EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT JOSE MANUEL BARROSO SAYING : "The important thing here is also the political issues. The political issue is quite clear, there is the political will to reach a consensus that will bring us forward including two elements: a single market for services on the one hand and on the other hand protecting the European social model." 2.42 12. JOURNALIST LISTENING 2.47 13. SOUNDBITE (French) JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER SAYING: "The Lisbon strategy talks about growth, employment and competitiveness means a proper service sector. And the countdrafting of the draft directive will have to be modified, adapted, in order to be able to take account of the very noble aspirations that we've heard." 3.12 14. SLV DELEGATES LEAVING MEETING 3.16 15. SOUNDBITE (Polish) POLISH PRIME MINISTER MAREK BELKA SAYING:"The stake is too high, we cannot but show the minimum of flexibility because the result could be a serious disturbance in the ratification of the constitutional treaty." 3.34 16. MV MINISTERS LEAVING; CHIRAV WAVING TO MEDIA 3.45 17. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) DUTCH PRIME MINISTER JAN PETER BALKENENDE: "We talked very well about the stability pact, but also the discussion about the services directive was very enlighting. Based on what is now on the table, we will take a look at how we can bridge differences of positions, that we are working on further liberation of the service industries in Europe and at the same time, that we will pay good attention to the social dimension. We had a good talk about this, a good discussion." 4.08 18. MV MINISTERS LEAVING 4.14 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 8th April 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
- Country: Belgium
- Reuters ID: LVA4ML9DG2F6HKS3LFM0VK2SC221
- Story Text: Looser budget deficit rules should spare Germany and
France punishment.
European Union leaders endorsed looser budget
deficit rules on Tuesday (March 22, 2005) that should spare
Germany and France from punishment, and backtracked on a
controversial plan to liberalise the market for services.
The 25 leaders agreed to ask the European Commission to
rewrite a bill to throw open businesses ranging from
computer services and plumbing to cross-border competition
that could have a siginificant effect on a May 29 vote on
the EU constitution in France.
The proposal has fuelled trade union protests against
feared job losses and helped propel the "no" camp into the
lead in opinion polls, causing alarm at the risk of
derailing the landmark constitutional treaty to reform EU
institutions.
"The directive will not be withdrawn, but amendments
will be made to respond to the demands of the European
social model," Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude
Juncker told a news conference after chairing the first day
of an EU summit.
Leaders of the new east European member states, who see
liberalising services as vital to enable their economies to
catch up with western Europe, said they had
made a gesture to help French President Jacques Chirac win
the referendum.
"The stakes are very high in this debate. We could not
but show a minimum of flexibility, if the result could be
serious disruption to the ratification of the
constitution," Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka said.
The leaders rubber-stamped a deal negotiated by their
finance ministers on Sunday under which countries will be
given more time to bring excess deficits back under the EU
limit and can claim exemption for all sorts of public
spending.
Chirac came to Brussels demanding a far-reaching
revision of the so-called "Bolkestein directive" on
services, which he said was unacceptable for France and
other countries,
including Sweden, Denmark and Germany.
But the leaders all recognised the need to open up the
services market, which accounts for 70 percent of the EU
economy, and no one called for it to be scrapped.
The Commission believes liberalising services holds the
key to rekindling Europe's anaemic economic growth,
forecast to be less than 2 percent this year -- half the
U.S. rate.
The leaders agreed to relaunch the so-called Lisbon
Agenda of economic reforms, adopted in 2000 with the
objective of making Europe the world's most dynamic,
knowledge-based economy by 2010, a target date which has
been dropped as unrealistic.
Progress has been slow, especially in the core euro
zone countries -- Germany, France and Italy -- and the EU
economy has fallen further behind the United States.
Unemployment stands at close to 9 percent.
But a growing realisation of the need to cope with an
ageing population and rising competition from Asia has
spurred the EU to try to refocus the broad initiative on a
more limited set of targets to boost growth and jobs.
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