EMU: COMMISSION DECIDES TO TAKE COURT ACTION AGAINST THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS.

The Commission claims proceedings before the Court of Justice are designed to re-establish legal security regarding excessive deficit procedures. The Commission will continue in the meantime to apply existing procedures for the co-ordination of economic and budgetary policies. The Commission has also adopted a three-pronged strategy for improving this co-ordination. (European Report will consider this decision further in its next issue.)

Early reactions.

In the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, President of the Greens, described the decision to attack the Council as "pure folly that will lead nowhere". He wondered "how one can explain to the French and Germans that they risk seeing their deficits increased by billions in fines and then express surprise at the fact that citizens feel no affinity with Europe". He believes all those involved would do well to look at their own mistakes first, not least Romano Prodi, who branded the Pact stupid but has proposed nothing in its stead. Member States are likewise not blameless, having failed to debate the reform of the Pact despite knowing for months that they would not honour the Maastricht criteria. Finally, Parliament has likewise done nothing, despite calls from the Greens for a debate on reform of the Stability Pact".

EPP group President Hans Gert Poettering believes on the contrary that "the Commission has every right to appeal to the Court of Justice", adding that should it choose to do so, it would not be opposed by his group. Mr Poettering expressed his support for Mr Solbes' role in defending the stability of the single currency.

By contrast, in a letter to Pedro Solbes, John Monks, Secretary General of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has urged the Commissioner not to take legal action against the Euro-zone's two leading economies. Whilst acknowledging that France and Germany perhaps "acted...