Minister Eugen Teodorovici is pressured by the EU to reduce the budget deficit
After finding that the Government has done nothing to adjust the deviation from the structural budget deficit, the European Commission now asks Romania for an annual structural adjustment of at least 1% of GDP in 2019.
The revised recommendation appears in the context in which the budget deficit estimate goes up to 4.7% of GDP for 2020.
The European Commission released on Wednesday the autumn package of the European Semester in which it presented the EU’s economic and social priorities for 2019 and the opinions on the budget plans.
In Romania’s case, the Commission has established:
“No effective action has been taken in response to the recommendation made by the Council in June and proposes that the Council adopts a revised recommendation addressed to Romania for the country to correct its significant deviation from the adjustment path targeting the medium-term budgetary objective.
In June 2018, the Council addressed a recommendation to Romania regarding an annual structural adjustment of 0.8% of GDP for both 2018 and 2019 under the procedure applied for significant deviations.
In the light of later developments and the fact that Romania has not taken effective steps to correct its significant deviation, the Commission is now proposing a revised recommendation regarding an annual structural adjustment of at least 1% of GDP in 2019.
Romania’s public deficit increased from -0.5% in 2015 to -2.9% in 2016 and is estimated to reach -3.3% in 2018, -3.4% in 2019 and -4, 7% in 2020: this deficit level is the highest in the EU.
The Commission invites the European Council to discuss the package and approve the directions presented on Wednesday.
The Commission also announces that it „looks forward to a fruitful debate with the European Parliament on the policy priorities of the Eurozone and the EU overall, as well as an increased collaboration with the social partners and stakeholders at all levels in the context of the European Semester.”
