Brussels, 16/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn was in Warsaw on Wednesday 16 February, where he met the finance minister, Jack Rostowski, and urged the Polish government to submit an action plan this week on how it is planning to bring its public deficit back below 3% of GDP as set out in the infringement proceedings against the country, according to reports in Reuters. Rostowski says that the Polish government will not be raising taxes again (it has already raised VAT to 23%). The day before, when leaving the ECOFIN Council, the commissioner said that Poland did not need any extra time beyond 2012, the deadline set for returning back within the Stability and Growth Pact cut-off point (3%). In December 2010, Poland published its budget for 2011, forecasting a budget deficit reduction to 6.5%, down to 4.5% in 2012 and 2.9% in 2013.
Hungary. On the same day, the acting chair of the ECOFIN Council, the Hungarian finance minister, György Matolcsy, said that the Hungarian government would be looking this week at a provisional programme of structural reforms, saying that it was not enough to simply respect the 3% limit, but structural measures were also required to rectify public finance in the longer-term. Matolcsy said that Hungary's public deficit would be below 3% in 2011 and 2012. Commissioner Rehn hoped he would get to see a copy of the Hungarian programme very quickly, to which Matolcsy responded that Hungary was not planning to change the timing of its reform plans (to restrict public spending and increase the public coffers by more than €2 billion).
On Tuesday 15 February, the ECOFIN Council ruled that the measures taken by four member states (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark and Finland) to correct their public finances were satisfactory, sharing the European Commission's view that it is not necessary at this stage to enter the next stage in the infringement proceedings for excess deficit opened against the countries in July 2010. Bulgaria and Finland have to respect the 3% of GDP limit for their public deficit this year, Cyprus next year and Denmark in 2013. There are currently excess deficit proceedings against every EU member state except Estonia, Luxembourg and Sweden. (M.B./transl.fl)