"All 17 leaders of the Eurozone are convinced that their economies need to be more competitive and more convergent. This is the key," he said. Germany, Europe's powerhouse economy, had wanted progress on the pact and especially its policy convergence provisions in return for increasing the funds available to the EFSF and ESM. The pact covers four areas for closer cooperation, competitiveness, employment, sustainable public finances and reinforcing financial stability. Individual states will be responsible for specific measures, an important caveat for smaller members jealous of their independence, but they are all supposed to work towards these same goals. The logic is that if eurozone states have the same goals and obey the same rules, then the huge debt burdens and public deficits straining public finances and threatening the euro will ultimately be brought under control. Van Rompuy said that if the "objectives may sound familiar. What has changed, however, is the political commitment." Agreement had at one stage looked uncertain as the talks dragged on, held up by sharp exchanges between new Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny and his peers over Dublin's request to renegotiate the terms of its bailout. Ireland has "not yet met all the required conditions," Van Rompuy said, adding: "They haven't met all the conditions so can't have reduced interest rates." Kenny warned he would fight for "weeks" to get the rates on Ireland's bailout reduced as his eurozone partners agreed to cut the cost for Greece's package by a full percentage point and extend its repayment to 7-1/2 years from three years. Kenny insisted he had a strong mandate from Irish voters to cut the 5.8-percent rate Dublin pays on its 67.5 billion euros of loans but his fellow leaders wanted him to bring Ireland favourable business tax rates up to their level in return. The special summit of the 17 euro nations was called with Portugal coming under intense pressure, as sceptical markets bet Lisbon would have to seek help sooner rather than later despite another austerity package announced on Friday. The meeting specifically congratulated Lisbon for its efforts to restore its public finances to EU norms. But they will face a fierce test on Monday when markets reopen in the shadow of Japan's massive earthquake and escalating violence in Libya, which combined have jolted confidence in the global economic recovery.