Articles related to "Stability and Growth Pact"

The European Union's executive launched disciplinary action on Wednesday (7 October) against Germany, Italy and seven other countries for letting their budget deficits rise above the bloc's permitted ceiling. But actual measures are not foreseen until recovery has taken hold.

As world leaders prepare for the G20 meeting in Washington to discuss ways to overcome the financial crisis, Europe's economy took another hit after its two heavyweights, Germany and the UK, reported negative growth and higher unemployment.

Amidst an overall worsening of economic indicators, inflation in the euro zone has reached a new record high, according to Eurostat estimates published yesterday (31 July).

Finance ministers of the 15 Eurogroup countries agreed yesterday (2 June) that the French proposal to cut taxes would be the wrong response to soaring oil prices, favouring other reactions, such as discouraging speculation, which will be further debated at the upcoming Summit on 19-20 June.

Celebrating the euro's 10th jubilee, the Commission praised the single currency's successes but lamented the eurozone's lack of a single voice in the global arena. Meanwhile, Slovakia was given the green light to adopt the euro in 2009, despite concerns over its ability to restrain inflation.

The Commission has cut its EU-wide growth forecast for 2008 to 2% (1.8% in the euro zone) and predicts a hike in consumer prices in the wake of recent shocks to the global economy.

Budget deficits at a record low and controlled inflation mean that Slovakia is likely to be ready to adopt the euro by 2009, Prime Minister Robert Fico told members of the European Parliament.

In an unusual step, BusinessEurope, the voice of EU business, has urged the Union to halt the appreciation of the euro against the US dollar, Chinese Yuan and Japanese Yen, arguing that the euro exchange rate has attained its "pain threshold" for European companies.

In a rare initiative aimed at defending his economic programme, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will participate in an Economics and Finance (Ecofin) Council today (9 July) in Brussels, feeding speculation that ministers will engage in heated ideological debates on models of economic governance.

Europe's economy is faring better than expected with growth levels forecasted to surpass the US and Japan this year and unemployment falling to a record low. But governments must still do more to balance their budgets, the Commission will inform finance ministers on 8 May.

The European Central Bank (ECB) raised interest rates on 8 March 2007 to 3.75% and indicated that further increases were likely due to growth and inflation in the eurozone. 

The European Central Bank (ECB), while keeping interest rates steady at 3.5%, hinted that they could rise next month amid ongoing wage negotiations in Germany, a move which would make European exports more expensive.

The city of Maastricht is to host a conference marking the 15th anniversary of the signing of the 1992 Treaty, which paved the way for the euro. However, the French presidential candidates are critical of ECB policy.

Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia said that he was pleased with the progress made, but refused to let France and Germany off the hook.

New member states and Sweden are unlikely to adopt the euro in the near future, according to convergence reports issued by the Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB). The Commission has urged candidates to step up their efforts.

The Commission will decide on 14 November 2006 on the measures it takes following Poland’s excessive deficit.

Welfare reforms and privatisations, but no new euro referendum, form the agenda of new Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of the centre-right coalition which ousted the Social Democrats.  

The first implementation review of the reformed Stability and Growth Pact shows that member states are failing to consolidate their budgets for bad times now that the economy is recovering.

Berlin’s plans on how to bring its long-running excessive deficit below the EU’s 3% limit are due on 22 February.

The potential for eurozone members to bail out one of their number in the event of financial distress is very limited, says a report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

The Commission is set to take a dim view of the UK's third year in a row with a deficit of over 3% of its GDP and may conclude, on 11 January, that the UK is in breach of the Maastricht Treaty and refer the matter to the Council.

Hungary will not resort to austerity measures to keep its deficit under control. According to the prime minister, the EU's development aid threat would be "unfair" to the country.

Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia has accused member states of applying tricks learnt from the corporate sphere to hide deficits in breach of the Stability and Growth Pact.

With a 3.1% deficit/GDP ratio, the UK has broken the EU's budget deficit ceiling for the second year running in 2004-05 and will do so again in 2005-06 and 2006-07, says a Commission report.

Italy's finances will be closely watched by EU observers as it strives to meet the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact. Some observers are sceptical about how much the measures undertaken will achieve.

Persistent growth differences in the eurozone can be reduced by a tough implementation of the Stability and Growth Pact, further integration of product, labour and capital markets plus measures to improve competitiveness, says the Commission.

Politically more difficult areas, such as easing employment protection legislation for permanent workers need to be tackled, says a report by the OECD.

Through a report on Italy's public finances, the Commission has taken the first steps towards launching an 'excessive deficit procedure' against a country facing projected deficits above 3% in 2005 and 2006.

The Commission will be launching an excessive deficit procedure against Italy in the coming weeks. Portugal is likely to be in hot water too after announcing a 6.83% deficit/GDP ratio for 2005.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has effectively ruled out Britain joining the euro until 2010 at the earliest. His comments come during a British general election campaign in which European debate has been markedly absent.

The Commission says it intends to apply the newly reformed Stability and Growth Pact rigorously. Italy and Portugal are in the spotlight while the Netherlands and Greece have their finances back on track.

Following the Houdini act they performed in avoiding sanctions for their persistent excessive deficits, France and Germany have had a series of new exceptions added to the list of those in the Stability and Growth Pact. EurActiv summarises the main points of the deal.

Following marathon talks among eurozone and non-eurozone member states, an exhausted EcoFin chairman Jean-Claude Juncker has indicated that no reform is better than a bad reform. EurActiv looks at the core issues.

Despite a favourable global context in 2005, the euro area will continue to lag behind other world regions and newest EU entrants, according to the latest UNECE forecasts.

Close examination of the inflation and output performance of eurozone member states reveals "inherent problems" with the euro that could threaten its long-term existence, claims Mike Wickens of the University of York in a June 2007 paper for EuroIntelligence.