Almunia wil strenger beleid inzake Grieks begrotingstekort (en)

The European Commission today recommended to the European Union Finance Ministers Council to give notice to Greece, in accordance with Article 104(9) of the Treaty, to take the necessary measures to remedy its excessive deficit situation. Given the sizeable adjustment to be carried out, the Commission recommends extending by one year to the end of 2006 at the latest the deadline for bringing the deficit below the 3.0% reference value. The Greek authorities are expected to present a report, before March 21, detailing the measures needed to comply with this recommendation, which is expected to be adopted by the Council at its next meeting on 17 February 2005.

In accordance with Article 104(9) of the EU Treaty, the Commission today recommended to the Council to give notice to Greece to bring its excessive deficit situation to an end. This follows the EU Finance Ministers decision of 18 January 2005, which established that the Greek government had not taken effective action to correct its excessive deficit in spite of the Council recommendation of 5 July 2004 under article 104.7 of the Treaty.

The Commission also recommends extending by one year, to the end of 2006, the deadline set in the July recommendation for bringing the deficit below the 3% reference value. This should create the conditions for a balanced and lasting correction of the Greek deficit.

The Greek government is requested to implement the 2005 budget with rigour. For 2006, Greece is requested to implement adjustment measures of a permanent nature (excluding one-off measures) leading to a reduction in the deficit of at least 0.6% of GDP. On the basis of a GDP growth rate of 3.3% in both 2005 and 2006, as projected by the Commission services in the autumn 2004 forecasts, and assuming that the deficit outcome in 2004 is 5.5% of GDP and that the budget for 2005 is fully implemented, the deficit should fall to 3.6% of GDP in 2005 and, with the further adjustment measures, to below the 3% of GDP reference value in 2006.

The Greek government should also continue to pay attention to factors other than net borrowing for the debt ratio to be reduced at a satisfactory pace as well as to enhance the mechanisms that ensure the prompt and correct supply of the general government data required by the existing legal framework. Greece is also requested to improve the cyclically-adjusted balance by at least 0.5% of GDP per year after the excessive deficit has been corrected.

Greece will have until March 21 to submit a report to the Commission outlining the measures needed to respect the new recommendations. The Greek authorities should thereafter submit reports to examine the adjustments efforts carried out to comply with the recommendations. The first report would be submitted by the end of October 2005 and the following ones in April 2006 and October 2006.

The Commission's recommendation is expected to be adopted by the Finance Ministers Council at its next meeting of 17 February 2005.

Document available on the website:

http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/about/activities/sgp/edp/edpel_en.htm