Commission to set multi-year periods to lower deficit prior to Euro zone entry

Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Malta, Slovakia and Hungary, all of which have a budget deficit exceeding 3%, thus precluding them from entering the Euro zone. "We will agree on multi-year programs of lowering deficits, the length of which will depend on the economic situation of each country," Joaquin Almunia, EU economic and monetary policy commissioner, said. Danuta Huebner, the Polish EU commissioner, told journalists that the European Commission would agree to a three-year period to lower deficit to below 3% as proposed by the country's government. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) M.M.