EU warns four countries on 2018 draft budget plans

The European Commission warned Italy, France, Portugal and Belgium on Friday that their 2018 draft budget plans posed risks to meeting EU debt and deficit reduction targets, while it also asked Spain for an updated budget draft that contains more information.

In letters addressed to each of the five governments, the commission pointed out that the reduction in their structural deficits – the budget balance that strips out business cycle swings in revenue and expenditure and one-off items – fell short of what EU rules required.

The letters are part of the EU’s budgetary rules, which give the EU executive arm the right to check if draft national budgets are constructed in line with EU laws that put limits on budget deficit and debt.

Spain has promised to send an updated version of an earlier draft, which was made on a no-policy-change basis, as soon as it goes to the Spanish parliament. The commission said it wished to "highlight the importance of a timely submission". – (Reuters)