Excessive deficit procedure: Cyprus

We do not know the future outcomes of the Van Rompuy task force on economic governance, but Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and the Stability and Growth Pact form the existing framework for multilateral budget surveillance and efforts to curb excessive government deficits in the European Union.

The purpose of this blog entry is twofold: 1) This post offers an example of how the excessive deficit procedure works. 2) The blog entry leads readers to the materials concerning the budget situation in Cyprus and the first stages of the excessive deficit procedure.



About a week ago, we followed the updated stability programme of Cyprus, the Commission’s report and opinion, and the Council’s opinion on the updated stability programme of Cyprus 2009-2013.

Now we follow the next steps.



Excessive deficit procedure (EDP)


From the viewpoint of transparency, we note that the next steps by the European Commission have been published quickly as preparatory documents on the legal portal Eur-Lex.

At this stage the documents are available only in the three working languages of the Commission: English, French and German.

The first document explains the excessive deficit procedure (EDP) according to Article 126 TFEU and concludes that an excessive deficit exists in Cyprus:




COMMISSION OPINION on the existence of an excessive deficit in Cyprus; Brussels, 15.6.2010 SEC(2010) 739 final (6 pages)



The second document is a proposal for a formal Council decision on the existence of a deficit in Cyprus:



Proposal for a COUNCIL DECISION on the existence of an excessive deficit in Cyprus; Brussels, 15.6.2010 SEC(2010) 740 final (9 pages)


The third document contains, in draft form, specific recommendations from the Council to the Republic of Cyprus to put an end to the excessive deficit situation:




Recommendation for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION with a view to bringing an end to the situation of an excessive government deficit in Cyprus; Brussels, 15.6.2010 SEC(2010) 741 final




Ralf Grahn