Brussels, 20/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 20 May, the European Parliament adopted a report on the long-term viability of public finances in which it, “expresses its deep concern at the high deficit and debt levels in the Member States”. The text was approved by 302 votes in favour, 275 against, with 34 abstentions. It “warns against using the crisis as a pretext not to consolidate public finances, not to decrease public spending and not to implement structural reforms”. In a press release published at the end of the vote, the rapporteur, Liêm Hoang Ngoc (S&D, France), decided to withdraw his name from the text because he believed that the current version constituted an “insult to European citizens”. According to the MEP, the EPP and the Liberals are brandishing the spectre of unsustainable deficits to justify an unprecedented austerity cleanup operation.
Given the necessity to clean up public finances, the report indicates that, “in 2011 at the latest all member states should start to reduce their sustainability gap by 1% of GDP yearly”. MEPs also underlined the fact that the, “current financial crisis has emphasised in the clearest possible way the direct link between financial market stability and the sustainability of public finances”. They are calling on the Commission to carry out studies to assess the quality of the member states' debts and introduce appropriate statistical supervision. (A.B./transl.fl)