Financial Times
February 22, 2012
European Union finance ministers on Tuesday agreed on rules that will give the EU more powers to scrutinise eurozone countries’ budgets, even before they are approved by national parliaments.
The European Commission will be able to deploy its experts unilaterally to countries in need of bail-outs to give technical assistance, along the lines of the “task force” assisting the Greek government by overseeing the implementation of its EU-imposed reforms.
The legislation comes on top of measures agreed last year that sought to enforce long-flouted debt and deficit rules put in place at the creation of the euro. They are intended to move the EU closer to a “fiscal union”.
Both systems apply only to the 17 countries that use the euro. In contrast, a “fiscal compact” being set up at Germany’s insistence will also impose budget restrictions on non-eurozone states in the EU that choose to sign up.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment