Germany's Eichel says EU Stability Pact Intact

German Finance Minister Hans Eichel on Tuesday said the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact was still valid despite the recent suspension of disciplinary action against France and Germany. “The stability pact still applies, the government is committed to it, and the process hasn’t been suspended,” Eichel said in Frankfurt, according to the Reuters news agency. Eichel last month successfully pushed for the suspension of disciplinary action against those countries currently flouting the budget deficit rules of the Stability and Growth Pact, which is meant to underpin the euro. The European Commission had demanded Germany and France undertake further steps to reduce their deficits under the pact’s three percent of gross domestic product limit, but EU finance ministers instead agreed to a political commitment from Berlin and Paris to pursue budgetary consolidation. The euro zone’s two largest economies are set breach the deficit limit for the third year in a row in 2004.