Romanian President Traian Basescu said he was "not happy" with a decision by EU leaders last week to exclude the cost of pension reform programmes from public debt and deficit figures, saying he will fight for a "fair decision". "I am not happy," said Basescu in response to a question from EurActiv regarding the conclusions of last week's EU summit in Brussels.
At the two-day meeting, a group of nine EU member states from the former communist bloc demanded that the cost of reforming their costly pension systems be excluded from EU budget rules.
But the meeting's conclusions merely invite the EU Council of Ministers to speed up work on how pension reforms can be integrated into the EU's revised Stability and Growth Pact.
"Acknowledging the importance of systemic pension reforms, a level playing field within the Stability and Growth Pact should be ensured," reads the text. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy is expected to report in December on the matter. Basescu said "more arguments" would be raised before the 16-17 December summit, when the Union's revised economic governance is to be agreed, including sanctions for budget sinners.
News source: EurActiv link: article
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