“Romano Prodi, the president of the European commission, faces a rough ride this afternoon when he appears before the European parliament,” writes Mark Milner in today’s Guardian.

“Last week Mr Prodi sparked a furore by describing the stability and growth pact – a cornerstone of the eurozone’s economic structure – as ‘stupid’. Some MEPs are not best pleased to see the instrument of fiscal discipline dismissed so lightly.”

“They say that Mr Prodi’s outburst of candour will undermine the euro, but Mr Prodi shows no signs of backtracking. Yesterday he repeated his view that the pact was stupid – although he did say he supported the concept that government borrowing should not outstrip 3% of gross domestic product. Unfortunately the German government looks set to do precisely that this year – setting the stage for an entertaining ding-dong between Berlin and Brussels.”

“Mr Prodi is right to describe the pact as stupid. The idea of governments running balanced budgets whatever the state of their economies is nonsense. Think it through. Growth slows, so do tax revenues, while spending on unemployment goes up. Under the stability pact the correct response is either to cut spending, or raise taxes, or both – any and all of which would worsen the initial problem.”

“The pact, as it stands, is the economics of the madhouse. As for claims that criticising the pact – seeking to increase its flexibility – would undermine the euro, they are arrant nonsense. Nothing would undermine the euro more than the slow destruction of the pact as it became patently apparent to both governments and financial markets – though not, it would appear to some MEPs, nor probably to the European central bank (ECB) – that it had failed the stress test of economic slowdown.”

“So should we be cheering Mr Prodi when he confronts his critics? Well, no, actually. Mr Prodi’s alternative is worse than the pact as it stands. True, he would like greater flexibility to allow the rules to be interpreted according to economic realities. But he wants an “authority” to police the new structure.”