European Union leaders signed Friday, March 2, a treaty designed to force governments to adopt balanced budgets through a "golden rule" or face fines, AFP reports.
The Treaty for Stability, Co-ordination and Governance, the bedrock response to a two-year public debt crisis that forced bailouts for Greece, Portugal and Ireland, was signed by 25 of the bloc's 27 leaders.
The pact enshrines in each country's constitution a "debt brake" or "golden rule", meaning countries are supposed to limit their structural deficits to 0.5 percent of output.
