Perhaps it was inevitable. After much deliberation, at all levels of the European Union, the much criticised stability and growth pact has survived the threat of major surgery. This is not entirely a sign that the basic problem for which the pact was intended as a safeguard has gone away. Far from it. But it is a clear reflection of the present thinking within the European Commission that, after four years of the pact, it might be wiser to learn from experience, remove a number of rigidities