Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on Malta’s 2014 national reform programme and delivering a Council opinion on Malta’s 2014 stability programme

On 9 July 2013, the Council adopted a recommendation on Malta’s national reform programme for 2013 and delivered its opinion on Malta’s updated stability programme for 2012-2016. On 15 November 2013, in line with Regulation (EU) No 473/2013, the Commission presented its opinion on Malta's draft budgetary for 2014.

On 13 November 2013, the Commission adopted the Annual Growth Survey, marking the start of the 2014 European Semester of economic policy coordination. On the same day on the basis of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011, the Commission adopted the Alert Mechanism Report, in which it identified Malta as one of the Member States for which an in-depth review would be carried out.

On 5 March 2014, the Commission published the results of its in-depth review for Malta, under Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011. The Commission's analysis leads it to conclude that Malta is no longer experiencing macroeconomic imbalances in the sense of the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure. Although indebtedness remains high, risks to the sustainability of private and public sector debt and the stability of the financial sector appear contained, even if they deserve continued monitoring. In particular, financial stability indicators remain sound. Still, in light of the structural nature of the risks in the sector, a continuation of the current prudent supervisory and risk-taking practices is key. The housing market has stabilised and thus risks arising from over-exposure to property are limited. Private debt is on the decrease; the corporate deleveraging is taking place in an orderly manner and credit market pressures are limited.

On 16 April 2014, Malta submitted its 2014 national reform programme which was updated on 8 May 2014 and on 30 April 2014 its 2014 stability programme. In order to take account of their interlinkages, the two programmes have been assessed at the same time.

EUR-Lex: COM(2014)419: Follow the progress of this recommendation through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2014:419:FIN

EUR-Lex: SWD(2014)419: Assessment of the 2014 national reform programme and stability programme for Malta http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2014:419:FIN

ESO: Background Information: Website: Stability and covergence programmes submitted by member states 2006- http://www.europeansources.info/record/website-stability-and-convergence-programmes-1998/

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