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		Commission proposals on Stability Pact a cop-out Tuesday, 7 September 2004 Following the publication of European Commission proposals concerning the future of the Stability and Growth Pact, which are to grant concessions loosening the effects of the European Union's economic framework, East Midlands MEP, Chris Heaton-Harris, said: "We've always said that it is impossible to regulate a single currency over such varied economic zones. If rules are being bent for the French and Germans on this occasion, what happens if they get into further difficulty? Will Mr Prodi, or his successor, decide to grant further Euro concessions? Indeed, would such a rule-bending precedent be set had it been a smaller country in Eurozone that were in difficulty." Fellow East Midlands MEP, Roger Helmer, went further: "These proposals are another cop-out. They offer nothing new to the debate - just bland statements about using peer pressure to strengthen the Pact, and noting the different economic situations in member states. This announcement is really just about letting France and Germany off the hook. Neither the Commission nor anyone else has yet come up with a workable and politically feasible way to deal with the problems caused by a single currency which covers 12 countries with different budgets, different treasuries, different priorities and different economies. This was just one of the fundamental structural problems that the creators of the Euro never dealt with. These problems will only intensify with enlargement of the Euro-zone." Even the Germans, who are to be bailed out of the financial mire by these proposals, are suspicious. The European economist at Deutsche Bank, Thomas Mayer, claimed that the reforms sent the wrong signals about EU wide rules and could strain relations between member states.