Brussels, 13/07/2010 (Agence Europe) - At their meeting in Brussels on Tuesday 13 July, EU economy and finance ministers decided to open excessive deficit procedures against Bulgaria, Denmark, Cyprus and Finland and said that the steps taken by 13 other member states were adequate to bring public finances back under control.
The Ecofin Council decided to open excessive deficit procedures against Bulgaria (deficit of 3.9% of GDP in 2009), Denmark (deficit forecast of 5.4% of GDP in 2010), Cyprus (deficit of 6.1% in 2009) and Finland (expected 4.1% deficit in 2010). The Council set the countries a 13 January 2011 deadline for introducing corrective measures. It called on: - Bulgaria and Finland to bring their deficits below the 3 % of GDP threshold by 2011; - Cyprus to do so by 2012; - Denmark to do likewise by 2013. The Council took the view that, in the cases of Cyprus and Denmark, the “special circumstances”, related to the impact of the global economic crisis, warranted correction of the deficit in the medium term rather than the short term. For Bulgaria and Finland, however, it was concluded that there was no reason to depart from the normal timetable for remedying the deficit.
The Ecofin Council also acknowledged the measures taken by Belgium (average annual budgetary effort of at least ¾ % of GDP over the period 2010-2011 to reduce its deficit to below 3 % of GDP in 2012), the Czech Republic (average annual budgetary effort of at least 1 % of GDP over the period 2010-2013, with 2013 as the deadline for reducing its deficit below 2013), Germany (average annual budgetary effort of at least 0,5 % of its GDP over the period 2011-2013 to reduce its deficit to below 3 % of GDP by 2013), Ireland (average annual budgetary effort of 2 % of GDP over the period 2010-2014 to bring the deficit below 3% by 2014), Spain (average annual budgetary effort of more than 1½ % of GDP over the period 2010-2013, with 2013 the deadline for getting back below 3%), France (average annual budgetary effort of more than 1 % of its GDP over the period 2010-2013, and deadline for correcting the deficit delayed until 2013), Italy (average annual budgetary effort of at least ½ % of its GDP over the period 2011-2012 to reduce its deficit to below 3% by 2012), the Netherlands (average annual budgetary effort of ¾ % of its GDP over the period 2011-2013 to bring its deficit below the reference value of 3 % of GDP in 2013), Austria (average annual budgetary effort of at least ¾ % of its GDP over the period 2009-2011 to bring its deficit below the reference value of 3 % of GDP in 2013), Portugal (average annual budgetary effort of 1¼ % of its GDP over the period 2010-2013 to bring its deficit below the reference value of 3 % of GDP in 2013), Slovenia (average annual budgetary effort of at least ¾ % of its GDP over the period 2010-2013 to bring its deficit below the reference value of 3 % of GDP in 2013), Slovakia (average annual budgetary effort of 1 % of its GDP over the period 2010-2013 to bring its deficit below the reference value of 3 % of GDP in 2013), the United Kingdom (deadline for correcting the deficit extended to 2014-15, with an average annual budgetary effort to 1¾ % of GDP between 2010-11 and 2014-15) to correct their excessive deficits. The Council noted that on the basis of the information currently available, this group of 13 countries have to date acted in accordance with the Council recommendation and that no further steps are needed at present. (L.C./transl.rt)