6  BIS central bankers’ speeches  A major step to fill some of the gaps of the Stability and Growth Pact – and “to give it more teeth” – was the approval of legislative package, the so-called “six-pack”, which entered into force on 13 December 2011.
The new legislation aims at strengthening both the preventive and corrective arm of the Pact, setting minimum requirements for national budgetary frameworks, and preventing and correcting macroeconomic and competitiveness imbalances (including the introduction of a new Excessive Imbalance Procedure) ii. Enforcement has also been strengthened by recourse to 'reverse qualified majority' voting 1.