New euro zone regulations to be reviewed by Brussels on Friday

France and Germany announced today that they have reached a comprehensive agreement on the signing of a new set of fiscal rules for the eurozone states. The new regulations are scheduled for approve in Brussels on Friday, Financial Times reports.

New regulations will coincide with the “fiscal compact” demanded by Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, and will enforce budgetary discipline in the euro zone. This step is seen as the essential condition for aggressive actions by the ECB to stop the euro zone debt crisis.

The changes will include more “automaticity” in the process of punishing states that breach the EU’s 3 per cent public deficit limits. A move to fine a country will in future only be overturned if a qualified majority of eurozone countries agrees to overturn it.