EU seeks revamp budget pact
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The European Commission on Friday suggested ways of revamping the EU&#39;s Stability and Growth Pact and said the proposed changes would restore the credibility of its much-flouted budget discipline rules.
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European Union leaders headed for a  showdown on Thursday over efforts to reform the bloc&#39;s creaking  institutions, but chances of agreement appeared to rise after  chief critic Poland softened its tone.
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Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Belgian counterpart sought Thursday to hammer out their differences over a new EU treaty, in the run-up to a crunch summit next month.
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German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and French President Jacques Chirac said proposals by the European Commission to change the European Union&#39;s rules on budget deficits don&#39;t give governments enough leeway on spending.
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The EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, Joaquin Almunia, is seeking greater flexibility in the application of Europe's strict budget rules for countries with big public deficits, it was reported.
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The European Union has admitted there was no hope of rapidly reviving its ailing constitution but sought more time for reflection, a year after French and Dutch voters rejected the pact.
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BRUSSELS  - The European Union wrestled with proposals to overhaul its ineffective budget rules but put off concrete action until January at the earliest in the face of big divisions.
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European Union leaders began a crucial summit on Thursday with hopes of an agreement on reforms of the bloc's creaking institutions hanging in the balance over demands made by Britain and Poland.
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The European commission expects the EU&#39;s 25 member governments to agree on a significant loosening of the controversial stability and growth pact by spring to kickstart faltering economic growth and create more jobs in the eurozone.
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Chancellor Gordon Brown has demanded urgent reforms after it emerged other EU governments were rigging competition for lucrative public contracts.
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European Union (EU) leaders on Friday in a summit called for urgent action on Lisbon strategy in the wake of a gloomy review report on European economic reform process.
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The European Union on Monday resumed aid to the Palestinian finance ministry for the first time since the West launched an economic boycott of the government more than a year ago.
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Gordon Brown has struck a deal to derail Brussels plans for a rapid expansion in the EU&#39;s budget, wresting back control for the finance ministers of member states.
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Defenders of financial rigour in the European Union attacked German calls for a radical dilution of the eurozone's budget rules at a lively meeting of EU finance chiefs.
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The European Commission yesterday called on Greece to bring in more measures to lower its public deficit than it has planned in the 2005 budget, while asking EU finance ministers (Ecofin) to consider taking further disciplinary action against the country.
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The new European Commission hopes to exploit divisions among Europe's richest countries to push through an agreement on the EU's next medium-term spending round as early as next June, officials say.
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EU finance ministers gather in the Netherlands Friday for informal talks likely dominated by efforts to agree on reforms to the long-strained budget rules underpinning the euro.