European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Wednesday that the EU's budget stability pact was alive and well but that some aspects needed to be made more flexible. The European Court of Justice on Tuesday annulled a controversial decision by EU finance ministers last year to suspend budget disciplinary action against Germany and France for excessive budget deficits. "We should not look at the pact from the point of view of sanctions. We are not talking about sanctions but about cutting public deficits," Almunia said in an interview on Spanish state radio.///