On Tuesday 9 July, the European Commission announced that it had forwarded to the Council of the European Union legislative proposals to formally initiate excessive deficit procedures (EDP) against seven Member States: Belgium, France, Italy, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia (see EUROPE B13435A1).
On Tuesday 16 July, the Ecofin Council should be asked to approve these proposed decisions. A qualified majority of Member States would be needed to prevent these decisions from being...