On Tuesday 8 July, the Ecofin Council asked Austria and Romania to correct their excessive public deficits by 2028 and 2030 respectively.
Officially opening an excessive deficit procedure for Austria, the Council is asking Vienna to reduce its deficit from 4.7% of GDP in 2024 to 3% in 2028. The government has been asked to take the measures needed to consolidate public finances by mid-October.
In accordance with the multiannual budget programme validated on the same day, Austria will have to respect the following growth trajectory for its net public spending: 2.6% in 2025, 2.2% in 2026 and 2027 and 2.0% in 2028.
To see the Council recommendation on the excessive government deficit, visit https://aeur.eu/f/hro
To see the Council recommendation approving the multiannual budget programme, visit https://aeur.eu/f/hr6
Romania. After noting in June that Romania had not taken the corrective measures required to correct its excessive deficit (see EUROPE 13664/16), on Tuesday the European finance ministers revised the budgetary consolidation path for the country, which is already the subject of an excessive deficit procedure.
The Council is asking the Romanian authorities to reduce the deficit from 9.3% of GDP in 2024 to 2.8% in 2030. The government has been asked to take the measures needed to consolidate public finances by mid-October. Romania will have to respect the following trajectory for growth in net public expenditure: 2.8% in 2025, 2.6% in 2026, 4.6% in 2027, 4.4% in 2028, 4.2% in 2029 and 4.0% in 2030.
The European Commissioner for Economy and Productivity; Implementation and Simplification, Valdis Dombrovskis, described the consolidation measures (spending cuts, VAT hikes, taxes on bank profits) recently adopted by Bucharest as an “important step” towards compliance with the new budgetary trajectory, “provided that all the measures are fully and rapidly translated into law and implemented”.
It should be noted that the European Finance Ministers have approved Lithuania’s multiannual budget programme (see EUROPE 13672/25).
To see the Lithuanian multiannual budget programme, visit https://aeur.eu/f/ho0
Defence. Finally, the Council adopted recommendations authorising fifteen Member States to activate the national opt-out clause of the Stability and Growth Pact in order to be allowed to deviate from their national budgetary path by a maximum of 1.5% of national GDP each year over the period 2025-2028 (see EUROPE 13672/24).
To see the EU Council’s note, visit https://aeur.eu/f/hnw
To see the Council’s specific recommendations to the fifteen Member States, visit https://aeur.eu/f/hnx (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)