European Union finance ministers will have to battle to forge a common reaction to a looming court decision on the bloc's stability and Growth Pact but a revamp of the pact will go ahead whatever the verdict.

The EUs top court, the European Court of Justice, will on July 13 rule on the case filed by the European Commission against the bloc's finance ministers over their decision to suspend budget disciplinary action against Germany and France.

Finance ministers will try and agree a common position on the verdict, according to their chairman, Dutchman Gerrit Zalm, but it was clear there were already differences of opinions.

"We are trying to see if we can get a coordinated answer from the council which is not easy because there are 25 members," he said at a press conference.

"I cannot of course in advance promise you that there will be a common reply from the council, but it is worth a try to see if we can get a common approach in our reaction to a court decision."

He said the group of EU finance officials which prepare for finance ministers' meetings would try to draft possible responses and that ministers might hold a teleconference if their deputies could not reach a consensus.

While the ruling will clarify the respective roles of EU finance ministers and the Commission in the disciplinary process laid down in the EU's budget rulebook, discussions on changing the much-flouted stability Pact would proceed regardless.

The clash over the suspension of the disciplinary procedure in November gave new impetus to ongoing work to revamp a pact which will this year either be broken or risk being broken by as many as six of the euro zone's dozen member states.

The Commission deployed a two-pronged strategy by challenging the decision in court even as it seized the initiative on how to improve the pact.