Discussed at the beginning of November, the option of holding an extraordinary meeting of European finance ministers at the end of the month to forge a compromise on the reform of the European Union’s fiscal rules has finally been abandoned (see EUROPE 13289/1).
The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council has now invited the ministers to a dinner on Thursday 7 December, on the eve of the Ecofin Council, announced as a decision-making meeting.
The Spanish authorities have begun circulating compromise proposals on the ‘corrective’ part of the Stability and Growth Pact and on the directive governing national budgetary frameworks. A compromise proposal on the ‘preventive’ part of the Pact is expected by the end of the week.
The numerical criteria relating to the annual reduction in public debt and the threshold of less than 3% of GDP below which the public deficit must be maintained will be determined at the last moment by the ministers.
On the question of penalties, the Commission’s proposal has not been amended.
At the same time, the French and German ministers attempted to reconcile their positions on this issue at the end of last week at Genshagen Castle, near Berlin. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)