Mr. John McCarthy:

The answer is quite simple. We are legally bound ... legally, it's in the treaties, to apply ... it's not in the ... there's a gentleman's agreement among Ministers that, I think, was signed off in 2001, 2002. But it stems from a legal provision, from a regulation, that there is a harmonised approach that applies to all member states. So, we can produce whatever measure we like, but when it comes to assessing compliance with the pact, the Commission will apply the one-size-fits-all policy. That's where the faultline lies.