Brussels, 06/05/2014 (Agence Europe) - The Ecofin Council on Tuesday 6 May identified major macroeconomic imbalances in 14 EU member states.
“Important challenges include a lack of competitiveness, the impact of the necessary deleveraging on medium-term growth; the high levels of private and public debt, especially in the context of very low inflation; and the difficulties faced by viable businesses in accessing affordable credit”, state the EU28 finance ministers in a conclusions document on Tuesday 6 May.
The 14 countries in question are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany Ireland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The scale of the imbalances varies from one country to another. For Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, the ministers say the problems are “excessive” and the Commission is invited to verify in its drawing up of country-specific recommendations (to be published on Monday 2 June) whether the measures set out in the countries' stability and reform programmes will deal with the imbalances. The Commission will be paying particular attention to the key measures to be unveiled by three eurozone nations, Ireland, Spain and France. (MB)