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Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho said on Tuesday that European fiscal rules were sufficiently flexible and shouldn't be altered.
"An alteration of the rules would be a terrible move," he said at a press conference at his official residence in Lisbon, attended by European Parliament President Martin Schulz.
Schulz said it was "an extremely complex matter" and didn't elaborate -- but he pointed out that budgetary stability was "fundamental" and that it was "important to differentiate from country to country" in the way it was implemented.
"Lasting stability" implies "steady growth," he said.
Schulz pointed out that growth and employment were essential in Europe and that the European Parliament should promote sustainable growth through programs.
The issue of how much flexibility the European Commission will allow has become a hot button issue, with eurozone leaders warning that countries' straying from fiscal rules could taint the eurozone's credibility.
Passos Coelho said that the budgetary treaty and the Stability and Growth pact being "sufficiently flexible" meant that this had enabled the Commission and the European Council to relax targets before.
"There has already therefore been flexibility in the way that European Institutions have dealt with budgetary situations in each of the countries in the eurozone," he said.
He concluded that it was important not to make new rules "each time a country or another has difficulty in observing the ones that exist."
