Whatever the conceptual qualities of the competiveness pact which detail the major chapters of a common policy on competitiveness and growth, its structural flaw remains the vagueness of its terms of implementation left to the discretion of the Council.  Beyond this institutional weakness, and despite the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) increased size, the system remains insufficiently flexible to meet an emergency and face up to the current economic difficulties.

Commenting on this special summit, Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group said "It is high time we move from pact to action. The competiveness pact remains in intergovernmental limbo, ie small agreements between head of state and government as demonstrated in this foot-dragging on the crucial issue of fiscal convergence. To act, we need a clear institutional framework. This framework is the Treaty which states that economic policy is the Commission's task. Therefore we call on the Commission to come forward by the Summit of 24 March with a strong proposal based on a convergence code as proposed by myself and the previous Commission Presidents Delors and Prodi."

"Regarding the EFSF, it is quite painful to see Heads of State and Governments persist in ignoring the importance, in the eyes of both markets and citizens, that it should work like a real bailout fund. While conditionality is necessary, as solidarity cannot be expressed unconditionally, but once commitments have been undertaken, aid should thereafter be automatic and sufficient while not excluding the possibility of the acquisition of sovereign debt. In this context, the establishing of the EFSF as a permanent mechanism is of concern. The Council would be well advised to follow the recommendation of the European Parliament and amend article 136 to make it more effective, rather than getting bogged down in an intergovernmental method that has not worked in the past and will not work in the future."

Press release