EU: Excessive government deficits Ih

The Ecofin Council Conclusions ‘Immediate responses to financial turmoil’ (Council document 13930/08, 7 October 2008) shed some light on how ‘flexible’ the member states aim to be when implementing the EMU rules, namely the Stability and Growth Pact, including the excessive deficit procedure:

“The application of the Stability and Growth Pact should also reflect the current exceptional
circumstances, in accordance with the provisions of the Pact.”

In other words, the Pact can be bent, but not broken.

The Conclusions are available at:

http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/misc/103202.pdf


Ralf Grahn