If RN wins, the EU action could serve to constrain its spending plans that mixes tax cuts and protectionism. France and the other countries have to present a roadmap to the Commission in the fall setting out how they aim to get their budgets back in line. Ultimately, they could be fined if they don’t.
The so-called Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) is designed to rein in spending in countries exceeding the EU’s 3 percent GDP-deficit ratio.
“[The EDP this year] doesn’t involve stigma, because it reflects the collective situation of half of the eurozone after an extraordinary period involving Covid-19 and so forth.” Jeromin Zettelmeyer, the head of the Bruegel think tank in Brussels, said.
The EU will let off the hook countries that were teetering around the 3 percent threshold such as Austria and Spain, according to an EU diplomat.
States with high defense spending such as the Czech Republic and Estonia are also expected to be spared from the EDP, despite exceeding the spending limit in 2023. Romania was already in the process.
Leave a Comment