EU moves against six states over deficits
The European Commission took the first move on Wednesday to tackle swelling budget deficits in six EU states, including France, Ireland and Spain, as the economic crisis burns through public coffers.
But the EU executive arm said it would use the "full flexibility" available given the "exceptional circumstances" arising from the US-born crisis that has hit bank lending and consumer spending, putting jobs and businesses at risk.
France, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Malta and Spain were named as the countries which have failed to keep their public deficits to under three percent of gross domestic product in 2008 as required by the EU's Stability and Growth Pact.
Therefore the commission "adopted excessive deficit reports" on each of the six, the first move toward seeking more fiscal rigour with the threat of penalties for laggards.
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