French political heavyweights are raising their voices to warn against the risks of an unbalanced and counterproductive debt rules reform, as negotiations look to wrap up before year-end and austere German criteria appear to be here to stay.
As finance ministers meet in Brussels to finalise a deal on the EU's fiscal rules, Europe's only hope is that they stop listening to the prophets of fake scarcity and allow more flexibility for investments.
The Romanian government is under increasing pressure to reign in its soaring budget deficit, risking punitive measures by the EU Commission if the budget deficit is not brought back under control before the end of the year.
France’s debt reduction plan must be more ambitious than what’s already been laid out, French Court of Auditors President and former European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici told EURACTIV France in an interview, warning that the country’s public finances were in a particularly poor state.
A large majority of EU countries and political groups agree the Stability & Growth Pact (SGP) badly needed revamping but the European Commission's latest tweak to the rules met with mixed reception.
The Commission's communication on the reform of the EU's fiscal rules shows that economic growth is now favoured over austerity as the most useful tool to guarantee debt sustainability.
EU leaders will discuss for the first time on Friday (19 June) the €750 billion recovery fund proposed by the Commission to overcome the coronavirus crisis. But in order to access EU aid, member states will have to bring down their ballooning public debt, an EU official explained.
It is increasingly evident that the European Commission has no intention to return to the tight cash-for-reform system to manage the recovery funds and that ‘hawkish’ member states could find it difficult to turn the proposed procedure into a troika-type oversight.
The European Commission could start controlling deficit and debt levels from next year, once the recession is over. But the road to balancing public accounts again will avoid the “mistakes” of the last crisis, the institution said on Wednesday (20 May).
Portugal's ruling Socialists won Sunday's (6 October) parliamentary election but fell short of an outright majority, meaning Prime Minister António Costa will need to negotiate a new deal with one or both of his far-left allies in the previous legislature.
France's private sector is growing at a slower rate and has reached the lowest level in the past four months, according to forecasts published by IHS Markit on Monday (23 September). For the eurozone, business expansion fell to the lowest level since June 2013. EURACTIV's partner La Tribune reports.
Greek lawmakers approved on Tuesday (18 December) the country's first post-bailout budget which projects a high primary surplus next year and sees a pick-up in economic growth.
Greece's parliament on Tuesday (11 December) voted to scrap plans to cut state pensions, in a motion led by the left-led governing coalition hoping to shore up its flagging support ahead of a general election next year.
The leader of Italy's new populist government vowed on Tuesday (5 June) to redistribute migrants in the EU and review EU sanctions against Russia, in his first policy speech to lawmakers since being sworn in.
Greece’s exit from a bailout program instituted by the eurozone and International Monetary Fund looks set to proceed in August, Luxembourg finance minister Pierre Gramegna said on Friday (11 May).
Eurozone finance ministers approved another 6.7 billion euros in bailout cash for Greece yesterday (22 January) after Athens pushed through controversial reforms that drew strikes and protests.
The head of Germany's Social Democrats, Martin Schulz, said on Monday (4 December) he had been urged by French President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders to join Chancellor Angela Merkel's next government and push for EU reforms.
Greece and its euro zone creditors reached a preliminary deal on Saturday (2 December) on reforms Athens needs to roll out under its bailout programme, a move that could pave the way for the country to leave the aid plan in August.
Whether it is an elderly German man who lost his job or a young boy that reached Europe fleeing war at home, Europe’s excluded are falling through the cracks of healthcare systems, writes Médecins du Monde.
There should be a clear distinction between the right and the left in European politics and the EU socialists should open the door to other anti-austerity progressive forces as well as to those who do not want to follow the “Orbánisation” of the centre-right, S&D leader Gianni Pittella told EURACTIV.com in an interview.
The EU Socialists and Democrats said on Wednesday (18 October) that they have to keep their distance from right-wing parties and be the basis for an alliance with progressive forces in order to counter growing extremism in Europe.
Eurozone finance ministers deluged German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble with farewell gifts yesterday (9 October) as the man who inspired Europe's austerity answer to the debt crisis attended his last meeting with them.
One trillion dollars. This “global stimulus” could change the world if a 5% tax hike is imposed on the “top decile” – the 10% richest segment of the population, a report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is proposing.
An early election was meant to bind the Conservatives to Theresa May's agenda for at least five years, but instead it has badly shaken the governing party with ministers questioning its seven-year pursuit of austerity.
