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novembro 15, 2004
Eurozone finance ministers mull rising euro, stability pact
Eurozone finance ministers were to focus at a meeting on the rise of the single currency to record levels against the dollar, with swelling deficits also set to share the limelight.
It was unclear, however, whether ministers would issue a declaration aimed at curbing the euro's rise, while the European Union's Dutch presidency said reform of the Stability and Growth Pact "needed more work" and conclusions would not be forthcoming.
The European Commission has said it and the 12 eurozone countries share European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet's concerns over the "brutal" rise of the currency.
"I think the position of Mr Trichet is shared by the commission and the member states -- excessive volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates are undesirable for economic growth," commission spokesman Gerassimos Thomas said earlier in the day.
As for the EU's stability pact, the Dutch presidency said in a statement: "There will not be any concrete conclusions at the end of the meetings."
The ministers gathered amid signs that the euro's appreciation -- it stood at 1.2931 dollars -- was starting to eat into growth.
Provisional figures from the EU statistics office Eurostat Friday showed eurozone growth was up a mere 0.3 percent in the third quarter from the second quarter.
This was short of the 0.4 percent growth forecast by economists and the rise of 0.5 percent posted in the second quarter.
Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders said ahead of the meeting that if the euro moved above 1.30 dollars, as it did briefly late last week, it would be cause for concern.
"We have always said that above 1.30 dollars per euro, that is a concern," he told reporters.
Meanwhile, US Treasury Secretary John Snow deflected suggestions of benign neglect of the US currency by the Bush administration, telling media in Dublin that Washington backed a strong dollar.
"Currency values are best set in open and competitive exchange markets," Snow added.
He was backed in that view by Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser, who said here that "markets decide long-term exchange rates".
EU monetary and economic affairs commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he welcomed Snow's well-worn support for a strong dollar but wanted to see action to back up the rhetoric.
"I fully welcome the words of Mr Snow asking for a strong dollar, but we will need to see decisions adopted in that direction," Almunia told reporters on his way into the meeting of eurozone finance ministers.
Stability pact discussions were to center on EU commission propositions and a document produced by representatives of EU member states.
According to German press reports, the latter contained a suggestion that net contributors to the EU budget, like France and Germany, should have some leeway when readjusting their excessive public deficits.
France, meanwhile, has proposed that research costs be deducted from deficit calculations because the EU hopes to develop a highly competitive economy.
At a recent summit, leaders largely endorsed the report of former Dutch prime minister Wim Kok calling for swifter implementation of the so-called Lisbon reform programme, but they omitted a 2010 deadline for turning the EU into the world's most competitive economy.
But a Brussels source close to such talks in the past said: "For tactical reasons, member states will not go out on a limb and say they agree on this or that point.
"Global agreement will be reached on the entire reform at the end, in the middle of some night."
Publicado por esta às novembro 15, 2004 10:22 PM