“On fiscal matters, we took a decision to open an excessive deficit procedure for Bulgaria”, said Irish Finance Minister Simon Harris on Friday 10 July, after the first Ecofin Council under the Irish Presidency.
As anticipated (see EUROPE 13897/23), the Council of the EU recommends that Bulgaria bring its public deficit back below the reference value of 3% of national GDP by the end of 2029, after it reached -3.5% of GDP in 2025 and is expected to rise to -4.1% in 2026. It also endorses the annual net expenditure growth path recommended by the European Commission: 4.2% in 2026, 3.4% in 2027, 3.4% in 2028 and 3.2% in 2029.
Bulgaria is invited to present, by 15 October, measures enabling it to comply with that path.
See the EU Council recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/mus
Netherlands. “We also endorsed the net expenditure path set out in the Netherlands’ new medium-term fiscal-structural plan”, the Irish Tánaiste also said.
The revised net expenditure growth path set for the Netherlands is now as follows: 4.7% in 2026, 3.5% in 2027, 3.1% in 2028, 3.5% in 2029 and 3.7% in 2030.
Read the EU Council draft recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/mso
Austria. On Monday, the Eurogroup welcomed Austria’s presentation, at the beginning of June, of a draft budget plan for 2027 and 2028.
It endorsed the European Commission’s assessment that the Austrian draft budget plan complies with the annual net expenditure growth path set in July 2025 (see EUROPE 13676/23).
Subject to an excessive deficit procedure, Austria has undertaken to bring the deficit back below 3% of national GDP by 2028.
See Austria’s 2027 draft budget plan as well as the European Commission’s assessment: https://aeur.eu/f/mut (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)