At first you think they can't be serious. Then you realize they are, those Brussels bureaucrats.
Brussels has granted a reprieve to France and Italy after they violated budget rules, a decision that underlines the readiness of the bloc to bend its fiscal rules to achieve economic growth. The term undermines seems more appropriate given all the Greek mess going on.
The EU decided against fining France under its so-called tougher budget rules, meanwhile claiming France is the "eurozone country in most need of remedial measures to put its public finances in order."
According to the report, France was given until 2017 to meet the EU's limit on debt to three percent of economic output or GDP. Some in France were seeking even longer, lobbying for an additional year to hit the three percent marker.
For the first time ever the new rules allow for fining the recreants who violate fiscal and budget parameters. France is a known recidivist.
Italy's debt level at 130 percent of GDP is second only to Greece.
France and Italy, the second and third largest economies in the a EU. no doubt view themselves as special, a point not lost on those fiscally wayward Greeks.
At first you think they can't be serious. then you realize.....
No comments:
Post a Comment