Brussels, 26/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 27 June, the 28 EU member states are due to call for a flexible implementation of the European budgetary rules in order to support economic growth.
“The possibilities offered by the EU's existing fiscal framework to balance fiscal discipline with the need to support growth should be used”, states the latest version of the European summit's draft conclusions, as reported by news agency Reuters. The European summit began on Thursday evening.
The use of the word “balance” is, on the one hand, to placate the member states who are suffering from sluggish growth and are having difficulty in respecting their budgetary commitments (reduction of its deficit for France, and reduction of its debt for Italy) and, on the other, to keep states like Germany happy, who are anxious not to call into question the rules of budgetary monitoring included in the stability and growth pact (see EURPOPE 11108). (MB)