Skip to main content

EU sets more realistic fiscal rules.

 


Under the blueprint set out today, member states could agree on more realistic debt-reduction paths with the commission while creating extra space for public investment. It comes as member states face mounting budgetary pressure and the risk of a recession triggered by the energy crisis. The draft communication, seen by the Financial Times, urges member states to reach a «swift agreement» on revising the EU’s budget rules, which are seen as complex and poorly enforced. The critical thrust of the regulations would be to give member states greater ownership of their debt reduction plans, which would be agreed upon with the commission and signed off by the council of ministers.

Once agreed, member states would be under increased pressure to deliver on their commitments and would face a more realistic threat of sanctions if they failed to do so. The new rules would scrap a requirement that heavily indebted member states reduce their debt-to-gross domestic product ratio each year by at least one-twentieth of the difference between the current level and the EU’s 60 per cent target. Instead, the commission would set out a four-year plan for an EU member state to put its public debt burden on a credible, downward trajectory. Any deadline extensions would need to be justified by commitments to public investment and reform, with the plans agreed between the commission and member state and signed off by the council.

www.sba.tax

Comments

  1. This is a good thing. The EU has finally realized that they need to act now and make things easier for countries, not harder. We are currently in a recession or at least some states are so any good measure helps.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Cloud Bookkeeping

US FED rate rise.

  The US Federal Reserve officials have indicated that they plan to resume increasing interest rates to control inflation in the world's biggest economy. During the June meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee reached a consensus to keep interest rates stable for the time being to evaluate whether further tightening of policy would be necessary. However, the majority of the committee anticipates that additional rate increases will be required in the future. The minutes of the meeting have recently been made public. According to the minutes, most participants believed maintaining the federal funds rate at 5 to 5.25 per cent was appropriate or acceptable, despite some individuals wanting to raise the acceleration due to slow progress in cooling inflation. Although Fed forecasts predicted a mild recession starting later in the year, policymakers faced challenges in interpreting data that showed a tight job market and only slight improvements in inflation. Additionally, officials gr...

EU business slide.

  S&P Global’s flash eurozone composite purchasing managers’ index, a key gauge of business conditions for the manufacturing and services sector, fell 1 point to 47.1, figures showed yesterday. That is its lowest level since November 2020 and the fourth consecutive month below the crucial 50 mark separating growth from contraction. One of the few bright spots in the survey was that companies in all sectors reported a slight easing of cost pressures, price growth and supply chain constraints. However, prices charged for goods and services still rose at the sixth fastest rate since such data started in 2002. Jobs growth increased marginally from October but remained low compared with the past 18 months. Following a few months of falling price pressure in manufacturing and services, the October print shows an overall stabilisation said Jens Eisenschmidt, chief European economist at Morgan Stanley. However, German businesses, at the hub of Europe’s energy crisis, reported that manu...

EU debt reduction

  Brussels wants to give EU capitals extra time to curb their debts and create space for public investment as part of an overhaul of the EU’s deficit rules .  The European Commission would table a proposal at the end of the month to reform the Stability and Growth Pact ,  under which it would work out multi-year ,  country-specific plans with capitals for getting their debt burdens under control ,  EU officials said .  The proposals come as member states face mounting fiscal burdens as they spend hundreds of billions of euros sheltering businesses and households from the energy crisis .  Under the new blueprint ,  the commission would propose a four- or five-year plan to an EU member state to get its public debt burden on a credible ,  downward trajectory ,  officials said . The national fiscal plan would need to pass a debt sustainability analysis and be approved by the commission and EU council .  The new regime would ditch an EU ...