The finance ministers of the European Union (EU) reached an agreement this Wednesday, after several months of discussions, on the reform of budgetary rules, with limits on the deficit and debt, which will be resumed in 2024 and will be more “balanced and realistic”.
“Another historic milestone under the Spanish presidency of the Council of the EU. The Council has reached an agreement on a new economic governance framework that guarantees both stability and growth,” Madrid said in a publication on the social network Twitter), after a video conference. meeting of responsible European ministers.
Following this provisional agreement, the Spanish presidency of the EU Council speaks of new rules “that are balanced, realistic and appropriate to current and future challenges.”
Wednesday’s approval comes after several hours of discussion in the middle of this month, at a meeting of European government leaders on the reform of the economic governance framework, a debate that has been going on for several months on the resumption of these rules in the next year.
The position comes when these budget rules are expected to be resumed next year, after the suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, with a new formulation despite the usual ceilings of 60% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). ). for public debt and 3% of GDP for the deficit.
What is at stake is a European Commission proposal, published last April, for risk-based fiscal rules, with a technical and personalized path for indebted EU countries, such as Portugal, giving them more time to reduce the deficit and debt.
Portugal has been defending the introduction of a countercyclical nature in this reform, so that, in times of greater economic growth, countries make a greater effort to lower public debt and, on the other hand, have slower rates of reduction in times of GDP more content.
The truth is that, taking into account the European elections in June 2024, this file must be closed in the meantime, given the time necessary for negotiation by the co-legislators (Council and Parliament).
Source: TSF
