BERLIN, July 13 (UPI) -- German Finance Minister Hans Eichel welcomed the EU court decision on deficit limits, which he said maintains flexibility.
"Deficit procedures are not automatic," Eichel said Tuesday in Berlin, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports.
The court ruling threw out an EU Council of Ministers decision to suspend deficit penalties against France and Germany. The two countries have breached the EU Stability Pact's stipulation that deficits not exceed 3 percent of GDP for the last two years and are likely to again this year.
Eichel said the decision showed the EU Council of Ministers has room to interpret EU regulations, however.
It is not clear what the eventual result of the case, which was brought by the EU Commission against the Council of Ministers for its waiver of deficit penalties, will be.
Germany faces potential fines of up to 10 billion euros ($12.4 billion). France could be fined up to 7.5 billion euros ($9.3 billion).
