On June 20th, ECOFIN closed excessive deficit procedures for Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovakia, confirming that these countries have educed their deficits below 3% of GDP, the EU's reference value for government deficits.
Olli Rehn at the ECOFIN press conference said:
'First, I want to welcome the Council’s decision today to close the Excessive Deficit Procedure for a further six countries. This brings the total number of countries still in the corrective arm of the Stability and Growth Pact down to 11, from 24 three years ago. 3 years ago, we had 24 Members-states in the EDP, today 11 out of 28 Member-States. Our reformed fiscal rules, in other words, are working and delivering more sustainable public finances in Europe.'
And the Commissioner welcomed the endorsement by Ecofin Council of the country-specific recommendations, which the Commission put forward on 2 June. 'These recommendations together form a blueprint for reinforcing the recovery in growth and employment that is now underway in Europe, but which remains fragile. The recommendations that will now go EU leaders to be discussed at next week’s European Council contain in fact very, very few substantive changes compared to the Commission’s original proposals.
The current very benign market conditions are of course welcome after the turbulence of recent years – but they should not be taken as an excuse to reduce the momentum of reforms for growth and employment, which would go against the interests of European citizens.'
Commissioner Rehn Press Statement
European Council Statement Closing Excessive Deficit Procedure
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