EU Agriculture Commissioner Mr Franz Fischler said the stability and growth pact should be made more flexible to take into account the ups and downs of the economic cycle.
In an interview with business daily Handelsblatt, Mr Fischler said the 3 per cent of GDP deficit ceiling should be "altered slightly", either up or down, depending on whether the economy is booming or in a downturn.
Governments should be allowed to let their public deficits exceed the 3 per cent ceiling in an economic downturn, the commissioner suggested.
"But in boom times, they should be required to be a lot stricter and in some circumstances even run up budget surpluses," Mr Fischler proposed.
Handelsblattsaid it is the first time that an EU Commissioner has put forward concrete proposals for modifying the stability pact, which has fallen into disrepute after key euro zone countries persistently breached its rules.