Brussels, 23/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - This Wednesday, the European Commission will adopt its recommendations to the Economic/Finance Council concerning:
The national economic guidelines will be, globally, approved by the Commission, but by insisting on the reduction of budgetary deficits, which in a few cases is considered as insufficient, notably in Italy (country which has presently the highest public debt in percentage terms of gross national product, Belgium having improved its situation). Italy will also be criticised for the absence, in its national programme, of any pensions reform plans.
Furthermore, the Commission could for the first time use the instrument (Article 99, paragraph 4) of the formal recommendation with regards to a country, Ireland, due to its tax system that aims to attract investment, but which has concerning results with regards to inflation. The annual rate of inflation being, last December, 2.3% for the EU as a whole, but 4.6% in Ireland. In the opinion of some Member States, the Irish tax incentives provoke distortions in competition. The Irish Ministers, Mr McCreewy, announced the imminent reduction of this rate and pushed to convince the Commission to abandonee the formal recommendation.