Word: pacts
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...enough, most voters seemed to think: after Latham's announcement, his approval rating fell 14 points in as many days. He soon clarified the pullout plan - which will cover only about 340 of the 920 Australian troops still in or near Iraq - and his attitude to the ANZUS pact, which lost its N.Z. component in 1985. "We believe in the value of the alliance," Latham said. "We support the U.S. alliance 100%." To underscore the message, he named Kim Beazley - a former Defence Minister credited with holding the alliance together after New Zealand's exit - as Labor's defense spokesman...
...cites ongoing worries about piracy, especially in Asia . "We'd rather grow the market gradually." Which may be the wisest way to avoid flying without wings - and crashing. - Reported by Yuki Oda/Tokyo and Bryan Walsh/Hong Kong Made To Be Broken The E.U. proposed relaxing its stability and growth pact by loosening the rule requiring states to keep budget deficits below 3% of GDP. The changes will benefit chronic overspenders such as France and Germany, though other nations oppose any relaxation...
...proposed changes to the structure of E.U. funding. "I suspect the U.K. will be able to retain the rebate," says Robert Prior-Wandesforde, a European economist at HSBC. Last week the European Commission also celebrated a court ruling confirming that members must abide by the stability and growth pact, which mandates that euro-zone countries keep deficits under 3% of GDP. Germany and France - the euro zone's biggest economies - have already violated the pact (and look set to do so again this year). Last November, E.U. finance ministers effectively torpedoed proposed action against France and Germany; last week...
...push ahead on his European policies. Determined not to be labeled a sellout by British Euro-skeptics, he packaged his work in Brussels as a series of valiant sorties to preserve British sovereignty. Pro-E.U. pundits in France, Belgium, Spain and Italy assailed Blair for watering down the pact. "The greatest paradox of the European Union," said Le Figaro, "is that its most skeptical member calls the shots." French President Jacques Chirac helped Blair's reputation back home by denouncing his intransigence. "The ambitions for the constitution are reduced - especially on tax and social security - by the clear position...
...foreign-investment rules until powers like the U.S. and the European Union promised to cut the lavish agriculture subsidies that effectively keep developing-world farmers out of lucrative markets. Lula's stance may also derail or seriously dilute the Free Trade Area of the Americas, the hemisphere-wide pact that was meant to be a jewel of President George W. Bush's trade agenda...