European Union Ministers of Economy and Finance (Ecofin) reached the final decision meeting without agreement on new fiscal rules limiting the budget deficit and debt They will continue their contacts tomorrow, although they have made “progress”, but there is no sign of an agreement being reached yet.
Many sources consulted by EFE agree that “good progress” has been made in the negotiations that lasted almost eight hours tonight and The Twenty-Sevens are “closer” to agreement, but it is still necessary to continue “working” To close the file. Other sources add that “consultations”, both political and legal, are necessary and that the Spanish presidency will “think tomorrow about how to proceed”, without ruling out the possibility of an extraordinary meeting before the end of the year. Reaching an agreement.
Reminding that this is a “complex negotiation” and that there is “will on the table to sign an agreement”, diplomatic sources say, “We have gone as far as we can today. We will continue to work in the coming days.” “The main elements of an agreement are present, Final work required on text and legal calibration“they add
Differences still existing between Member States forced the end of talks, which were already expected to be complex at the beginning of the day, although the initial idea was to work all night in search of an agreement.
The sole purpose of the meeting Unraveling the Stability Pact reformIt began at around 7.30pm on Thursday and throughout the night several rounds of discussions took place in the room with the Twenty-Sevens, separated by pauses during which bilateral and group-level contact took place. All the while, the Spanish delegation, led by the first vice president of the Government, Nadia Calviño, has been making changes to the compromise text it proposed at the beginning of the day in order to bring the positions of the capitals closer together.
The biggest challenge lies in combining the positions of Germany and FranceParticularly on the speed of deficit reduction that will be required for countries with a gap between expenditure and income of more than 3% of GDP. Paris and Berlin agree that partners who find themselves in this situation will have to adjust the structural deficit to the equivalent of 0.5% of GDP. The difference is that France wants to add additional flexibility that would allow the effort to be reduced to 0.3 percent if the country commits to a series of investments and reforms, something Germany has rejected.
On the other hand, the Spanish document includes Berlin’s request to demand an annual debt cut of at least one percent for the most indebted countries and to set a target of reducing the deficit to 1.5 percent of GDP, even if the difference is below 3 percent. % determined by the treaties.
Moreover, while Italy continues to demand that this adjustment be measured by the primary structural deficit, which excludes debt interest from the calculation, it wants to ensure that defense investments receive special treatment within the framework of the new budget and that commitments are fulfilled. National recovery plans provide for an extension of the adaptation period.