Only Malta and Denmark have complied with the European Commission’s request to submit, by Friday 20 September, the medium-term fiscal-structural plans that the European Union countries intend to apply in accordance with the revised rules of the Stability and Growth Pact (see EUROPE 13348/8).
Malta has chosen to implement a four-year budget plan. With a public deficit of 4.6% of GDP in 2023, the Mediterranean island is one of seven EU countries subject to an excessive deficit procedure (see EUROPE 13462/1, 13435/1). It aims to reduce this deficit to 4.0% of GDP in 2024 and to 2.6% of GDP in 2028. Malta’s public debt is well below the 60% of national GDP regulatory threshold, at 47.3% of GDP in 2023, although it is expected to rise to 50% of GDP by 2026.
The Maltese authorities are expecting net growth in public spending to average 5.9% between 2024 and 2028.
Denmark. Denmark expects a budget surplus until 2027, including a 1.9% rise in GDP in 2024, and public debt to decline from 33.6% to 31.5% of GDP between 2023 and 2025. The Danish medium-term plan therefore aims to preserve the soundness of its public finances over the long term.
The Danish authorities have announced that net growth in public spending will reach 6.9% in 2024, 4.8% in 2025 and 3.4% in 2028.
By 15 October, the vast majority of euro area countries will simultaneously transmit to the European level their medium-term fiscal-structural plan and their draft budget plan for 2025, which is supposed to implement the first year of this medium-term plan. Some countries, such as France and Belgium, have asked for more time to prepare their budget documents due to the formation of the national government.
See the medium-term fiscal-structural plans submitted by the Member States: https://aeur.eu/f/djs (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)