Czech Prime Minister: Crisis Due To Limits On CapitalismLONDON -(Dow Jones)- Loosening the European Union's fiscal rules would threaten confidence in the euro and the euro zone, Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said Thursday.The Czech Republic assumes the rotating presidency of the European Union for six months from January.E.U. leaders have agreed on an EUR200 billion fiscal stimulus package. Rules contained in the Stability and Growth Pact prohibit members from running a budget deficit of more than 3% of gross domestic product or a total public sector debt of more than 60% of GDP.Speaking at the London School of Economics, Topolanek warned against an excessive fiscal response to the global economic crisis."I consider loosening the Stability and Growth Pact to be a direct threat to confidence in the euro zone and a dangerous precedent for the future," he said.Topolanek also warned against excessive regulation of financial services as a response to the crisis, comparing some recent proposals to "the fifth article of the Communist Manifesto."He said the crisis had its origins in a "fatal failure of market intervention. It was state support for mortgages that led them to be offered to people who were fundamentally incapable of repaying them."Topolanek added. "It is not a failure of capitalism, it is lack of capitalism."-By Paul Hannon, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9491; [email protected] Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=DvQ0SbTuijGdF1UTCLEU1w%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.(END) Dow Jones NewswiresDecember 18, 2008 14:19 ET (19:19 GMT)Copyright 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.