22 September 2010

Il Sole: Olli Rehn aims to make the procedures for the excessive deficit more efficient

Rehn, the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs who spoke in Estonia at a conference about the introduction of the euro, stressed that clear rules are needed for a better surveillance on the economic policies of the EU Member States and on public finances.  The sanctions should be an automatic consequence if a Member State breaks the rules and puts its partners at risk.  Regarding the instruments for improving the efficiency of the procedure of the excessive deficit, Rehn assured the audience that the EU will publish them in September.  The central ideal is that only qualified majority of the Member States will be sufficient to block a proposal to start the procedures initiated by the Commission.  The key point of the new proposal, the deadline for which is September 29, will be “simplification of the sanctioning procedure for the countries that have excessive deficits.”  He also specified that the EU intends to create a permanent fund for the countries that could be put in a financial stability risk, as opposed to the current scheme, which lasts for three years.

Necessary measures for the fiscal consolidation

After the events of this spring, during which mechanisms of financial support on European scale were prepared, “all the countries are taking rigorous measures of fiscal consolidation, including Italy that will manage to keep its public debt under control and will not risk any threat of contamination from the Greece and Ireland problems.”