27/06/2018 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 27 June, the European Commission adopted a positive opinion concerning the updated draft German budget for 2018 with regard to the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact. Although a previous draft budget, submitted in October of last year, received the institution's blessing, subject to no major changes, the new German government submitted this new draft budget on 5 June. Among the Commission's observations, it notes that public investment is expected to remain at 2.25% of GDP in 2018, or the same level as last year. “Further efforts are thus needed to increase public investment in a sustained manner and clear the investment backlog, especially at municipal level”, the institution considers. (LT)