Weakening Maastricht Treaty 'historic mistake': Westerwelle

(VIENNA) - German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Wednesday criticised the watering down of the 1993 Maastricht Treaty, one of the European Union's founding treaties, as a massive mistake.

"The weakening of the Maastricht treaty in 2004-2005 was certainly one of Europe's historic mistakes," he told a joint press conference with his Austrian counterpart Michael Spindelegger in Vienna.

Before then, the text "had been a strong treaty, with clear rules and limited leeway as far as accumulating debt was concerned," he said, pointing the finger of blame at the then-governments of Germany and France.

A weakening of EU rules on budget deficits is seen as a major factor leading to the current eurozone sovereign debt crisis since it softened the resolve of member states to achieve balanced budgets.

Westerwelle also reiterated Berlin's position, favouring European budgetary rules and tougher penalties as a way out of the crisis, and insisted compliance would need to be reinforced in the future.

"If we want to give ourselves stability rules, we must make sure these rules are respected.

"It must be clear that there are consequences, otherwise we will set a bad example," he said.

"The goal is to strengthen in the long term the sanctions mechanisms for persistent rule-breaking in Europe," Westerwelle said, welcoming the fact that almost all EU states had now accepted stricter budgetary rules.

"We have already made tangible changes. I think it is necessary that we continue."

He also urged: "We need to create more growth in Europe. This is not only achieved through new debt, rather growth is the result of competitiveness. So it is our duty to increase competitiveness in Europe."