Instead of adopting the proposals by the European Commission under the Stability Pact, the Council made recommendations to Germany and France to correct their deficits outside the framework of the Stability Pact. To put these developments into perspective, allow me to take you a number of years back in history.
Between 1991 and 1995, before a monetary union in Europe was considered to be a realistic prospect, the average budget deficit of the eurozone was 5% of GDP. The subsequent pressure for fiscal discipline emanating from the desire to qualify for Economic and Monetary Union, resulted in an average budget deficit of 2.3% of GDP at the end of 1998.