Press Release: Commission assesses stability and convergence programmes of fourteen EU Member States

On 17 March 2010 the European Commission examined the updated stability and convergence programmes (SCPs) of Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland and the United Kingdom. These assessments have to be seen against the background of the sharp economic and financial crisis which has had a major impact on public finances. Reflecting the working of automatic stabilisers and discretionary stimulus measures implemented in line with the European Economic Recovery Plan (EERP) to cope with the exceptional economic circumstances, a large majority of Member States is currently subject to the excessive deficit procedure following corresponding Council decisions in 2009. Of the countries assessed, only Bulgaria and Estonia plan to keep their general government deficits below the 3% of GDP reference value set in the Stability and Growth Pact over the programmes' period. Overall, for the majority of the fourteen programmes, the growth assumptions underlying the budgetary projections are assessed as rather optimistic, implying that budgetary outcomes might be worse than targeted. Furthermore, in several cases, the budgetary consolidation strategy is not sufficiently backed up by concrete measures from 2011 onwards.