REFORM OF THE STABILITY AND GROWTH PACT

The article is dedicated to a Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact endorsed by the Council of the European Union at its meeting in Brussels on March 22-23, 2005. Under reform guidelines worked out by the European Commission and consulted within the Community, any changes to the pact should enable more effective supervision over the budget deficit and public debt in EU member states. On the other hand, reforms should guarantee member states sufficient flexibility in pursuing their national fiscal policies. In this context, the Council's decisions, made under the pressure of France and Germany, put a question mark over not only the implementation of the key goals of the reform, but also the continued functioning of the pact. The compromise reached within the Council may be important for new member states, both in the context of their prospective accession to the euro zone and the ongoing negotiations on the new financial perspective for 2007-2013. The author notes that, by offering concessions in the area of the pact, Poland could probably count on the "gratefulness" of the key net contributors to the EU budget.