Communication from the Commission. Assessment of action taken by Poland in response to the Council Recommendation of 10 December 2013 and by Croatia in response to the Council Recommendation of 28 January 2014 with a view to bringing an end to the situation of excessive government deficit

On 10 December 2013 and 28 January 2014, respectively, the Council adopted recommendations to Poland and Croatia, with a view to bringing an end to the situation of their excessive government deficit. The Council established deadlines of 15 April 2014 and 30 April, respectively, for these countries to adopt the necessary measures to take effective action to comply with the recommendations and to report in detail on their consolidation strategies that they envisage in order to achieve the targets.

Regarding Poland, on 10 December 2013, the Council decided under Article 126(8) of the Treaty that Poland had not taken effective action in compliance with the Council Recommendation of 21 June 2013 to correct its excessive deficit by 2014, and under Article 126(7) of the Treaty recommended Poland to put an end to the excessive deficit situation by 2015. In accordance with Article 5(1a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97, Poland reported on action taken in both the context of its convergence programme submitted on 15 April 2014 as well as in a dedicated report submitted on the same date.

Regarding Croatia, on 10 December 2013, having taken into account its report under Article 126(3) of the Treaty and having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee in accordance with Article 126(4) of the Treaty, the Commission concluded that an excessive deficit existed in Croatia. The Commission therefore addressed such an opinion to Croatia and informed the Council accordingly. On 28 January 2014, considering that according to national plans and the Commission forecast deficits remained well above the 3% of GDP Treaty reference value in the period 2013-15 and that the debt ratio was expected to rise above 60% of GDP in 2014, increasing further over the forecast horizon up to 2015, the Council decided that an excessive deficit existed in Croatia in accordance with Article 126(6) of the Treaty and issued a recommendation under Article 126(7) of the Treaty to the country, with a view to end the excessive deficit situation by 2016. In accordance with Article 3(4a) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97, Croatia reported on action taken in the context of its convergence programme submitted on 30 April 2014.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)431: Follow the progress of this communication through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:431:FIN

ESO: Background information: Commission takes steps under the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) http://www.europeansources.info/record/memo-commission-takes-steps-under-the-excessive-deficit-procedure-edp/

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