THE meeting of heads of state and government opened on Friday morning with the usual presentation by the outgoing president of the European
Parliament, Mr Klaus Haensch. His role was praised by Mr Kohl, Mr Santer, and Mr Guteress.
Mr Bruton said Mr Haensch had always spoken frankly and was like a breath of fresh air. It was important to remember he represented a body elected by universal suffrage.
The heads of government then agreed to extend the mandate of Mr Alexandre Lamfalussy as head of the European Monetary Institute (EMI) until July, and appointed the head of the Dutch Central Bank, Mr Wim Duisenberg to take over from him.
Mr Chirac paid tribute to both men but said the latter's appointment was without prejudice to the nomination of the head of the European Central Bank which is due to emerge out of the EMI.
Mr Bruton noted that they had to make a formal decision confirming that, as a majority of member-states did not yet meet the Maastricht single currency criteria launch-date for the euro, the launch would now take place on January 1st, 1999, as provided for in the treaty.
Following a 30-minute break to allow for informal consultations on the deadlocked stability pact, the meeting agreed the finance ministers would continue to meet informally while leaders continued with a debate on employment.
At 3 a.m. on Friday, the finance ministers had reached a framework agreement on the stability pact which provided continued financial disciplines in the wake of the launch of the euro. But key figures in rules governing the application of sanctions to those who broke deficit guidelines had still to be agreed.
Now the leaders were making clear there was no way they were going to broker the deal and kicked the ball back to finance ministers.
Those separate deliberations continued until after lunch, when the heads of government reconvened and Mr Bruton reported a breakthrough, paying particular tribute to Luxembourg's Mr Juncker for his contribution to the solution.
He said the package was acceptable to all the finance ministers and represented a delicate balance of interest. It was important they agreed now, because any delay would only make problems worse and a deal more difficult.
Mr Chirac said that all had made compromises to reach the deal, but it was a good one which would ensure the credibility of the euro. He hoped they would agree, however, to call it the Stability and Growth Pact to emphasise its importance in laying the basis for job creation.
The leaders agreed the compromise and backed the full report from finance ministers including proposals on the legal status of the new currency and plans for a new exchange-rate mechanism to govern relations between euro and non-euro currencies.