EU Urges Deeper Cuts to France's Long-Term Deficit
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has told France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal and Slovenia that their 2019 budget proposals did not meet recommended targets for cutting longer-term deficit cycles, but Paris played down the criticism.
As part of its role to police euro zone budgets and avoid crises that can threaten the currency area, the Commission sent letters to the five countries, saying they were not cutting their structural deficits as deeply as agreed.
In its letter to the French finance ministry, the Commission wrote: "The preliminary evaluation of the Commission indicates that France's trajectory does not respect the rhythm of debt reduction in 2019," referring to euro zone rules.
The Commission called on Paris to clarify by Oct. 22.
Overall, the Commission was unhappy that the five countries were not cutting their structural deficits by up to 0.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), instead targeting a less ambitious 0.2 percent of economic output.
As part of its role to police euro zone budgets and avoid crises that can threaten the currency area, the Commission sent letters to the five countries, saying they were not cutting their structural deficits as deeply as agreed.
In its letter to the French finance ministry, the Commission wrote: "The preliminary evaluation of the Commission indicates that France's trajectory does not respect the rhythm of debt reduction in 2019," referring to euro zone rules.
The Commission called on Paris to clarify by Oct. 22.
Overall, the Commission was unhappy that the five countries were not cutting their structural deficits by up to 0.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), instead targeting a less ambitious 0.2 percent of economic output.