BRUSSELS: European Union president Herman Van Rompuy plans to unveil a eurozone competitiveness pact that omits controversial German proposa Save ls to jointly tighten bloc policies, a source close to the issue said Monday.
The plan, prepared by Van Rompuy's office and the executive European Commission, will be presented during a meeting of senior officials from the 17-nation single currency area on Monday, the source said.
Van Rompuy was given a mandate by EU leaders at a February 4 summit to draft a competitivity plan that has been pushed by France and Germany to deepen eurozone economic policy coordination in order to prevent new debt crises.
Several countries, however, have criticised the pact as a German attempt to impose its economic model on the rest of the eurozone nations.
The Van Rompuy-Commission plan has left out two of the most disputed German proposals -- raising the retirement age and eliminating wage laws that link salary increases to inflation across the 17 nations.
The EU proposal focuses on three areas -- competitivity, employment and budgetary discipline, the source told AFP.
All members of the 27-nation European Union the eurozone 17 plus 10 other nations -- would be invited to take part in the pact, the source said.
Inviting others into the fold would reassure eastern European countries, which are not members of the eurozone yet, that they would not be excluded from any enhanced cooperation in Europe.
Eurozone leaders will meet at a special summit on March 11 to discuss ways to shield the euro from future debt shocks.
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