Recommendation for a Council Decision giving notice to Spain to take measures for the deficit reduction judged necessary in order to remedy the situation of excessive deficit

The Stability and Growth Pact is based on the objective of sound government finances as a means of strengthening the conditions for price stability and for strong sustainable growth conducive to employment creation. The Stability and Growth Pact includes Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure, which was adopted in order to further the prompt correction of excessive general government deficits.

On 27 April 2009, the Council decided that an excessive deficit existed in Spain and issued a recommendation to correct it by 2012. Since then the Council issued three new recommendations to Spain, on 2 December 2009, 10 July 2012 and 21 June 2013, extending the deadline for correcting the excessive deficit to 2013, 2014 and 2016 respectively, as the Council considered that Spain had taken effective action, but unexpected adverse economic events with major unfavourable consequences for government finances had occurred.

On 12 July 2016 the Council adopted a decision establishing that no effective action had been taken by Spain in response to the 2013 Council Recommendation. This document proposes a new deadline for the correction of the excessive deficit and an adjustment path that could ensure a durable correction of the excessive deficit.

ESO: Background information: Stability and Growth Pact: fiscal proposals for Spain and Portugal http://www.europeansources.info/record/stability-and-growth-pact-fiscal-proposals-for-spain-and-portugal/

EUR-Lex: SWD(2016)263: Analysis by the Commission services of the budgetary situation in Spain following the adoption of the Council Recommendation to Spain of 21 June 2013 with a view to bringing an end to the situation of an excessive government deficit and the Council Decision of 12 July 2016 establishing that no effective action has been taken by Spain in response to the Council Recommendation of 21 June 2013 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2016:263:FIN

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)517: Recommendation for a Council Implementing Decision imposing a fine on Spain for failure to take effective action to address an excessive deficit http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2016:517:FIN

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