BERLIN, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet)-- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has called for radical changes to the rules set by the European Union (EU) Growth and Stability Pact ahead of a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels.

    The pact should be loosened to allow countries to run a deficitbeyond the current limit of 3 percent of GDP, Schroeder wrote in an article published in Monday's Financial Times Deutschland.

    He also argued that the EU should have less power to take action against countries breaching the rules.

    "The stability pact will work better if intervention by European institutions is only permitted under very limited conditions," Schroeder wrote.

    Schroeder said the criteria set by the EU should not be appliedmechanically and that credible growth and labor policies should allow countries to run higher deficits.

    They should be given more freedom if they introduced costly structural reforms or were suffering from economic stagnation, Schroeder wrote.

    Germany breached the stability pact for three successive years but hasn't been punished by the EU.

    Euro-zone finance ministers are set to meet in Brussels Monday evening for two days of talks that will focus on changes to the stability pact. Enditem