Press Release
Jean-Claude Juncker meets Dutch Finance Minister Gerrit Zalm

Date of release : 01-03-2005

Policy area : Economic and Financial Affairs Economic and Financial Affairs

In his capacity as current President of the European Union’s "Economic and Financial Affairs" Council and President of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Junker, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, met Gerrit Zalm, the Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, in Luxembourg on 1 March 2005.

The meeting between Messrs Juncker and Zalm revolved mainly around the review of the Stability and Growth Pact that will again be on the agenda of the meetings of the Eurogroup and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council on 7 and 8 March.

It is expected that this last meeting of the Ministers for Finance of the eurozone and the Ministers for Finance and the Economy of the European Union before the European Council meeting on 22 and 23 March 2005 will bring about a political agreement on the reform of the pact. Consequently, Jean-Claude Juncker and Gerrit Zalm discussed the issues to be resolved next week.

At the end of the meeting Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker made the following statement:

"Today’s meeting with Gerrit Zalm was important since my Dutch colleague’s views are a helpful contribution to the seeking of an agreement, which the Presidency is currently undertaking in this area. Gerrit and I have agreed to ensure that the Stability and Growth Pact loses none of its bite in the struggle to effectively control deficit and debt levels that are inconsistent with the medium-term stability goal. But we are also of the opinion that the application of the pact will have to be economically more intelligent, in other words, more restrictive during upturns and, provided these restrictions had been observed, more flexible in times of major economic downturns. Nevertheless, a Member State should not be able to apply this flexibility on a discretionary basis. Rather, it should be based on a catalogue of spending items that can meet criteria defined in terms of growth, competitiveness and the sustainability of government finances."