The reform of the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact sets a countdown to the entry into force of new fiscal rules from 2025. The proposed horizon sets several key dates until countries must meet deficit and debt targets suspended after the pandemic, a time when circumstances demanded significant spending. But Spain will be late for the first deadline. Even though countries were required to present their structural fiscal plans by September 20, the government will delay this delivery to Brussels until October 15.
This was confirmed this Wednesday by the Minister of Economy, Carlos Corpo: “Spain will present its structural budget plan on October 15 in accordance with the provisions of the regulations. just like the vast majority of Member States.”The date, which coincides with the deadline for presenting the budget plan for 2025, was given in response to the PP’s question in Congress about meeting the deadline of this Friday, October 20.
The structural budget plan is the first of the documents that countries must present to the European Commission to guarantee that they will respect the limits set by the budgetary rules, a deficit that will not exceed the levels 3% on GDP and 60% in case of debtThese fiscal plans are configured for four years, but are extendable to seven years in case governments present reforms and investments that justify it.
Body said the Ministry of Economy is working on developing a plan that is “credible, realistic and well-founded”, but at the same time “ambitious”. His idea is to “maintain the element of budgetary discipline that has characterized us in these years”, “along with investments and reforms that continue the process of modernization started in our economy thanks to the Recovery Plan”. In this sense, he defended that the new budgetary rules “are guided by a medium-term vision, which allows to combine budgetary consolidation with the defense of public investment”.
Spain will be late for the first delivery that member states must make before the new budgetary rules come into force. Even if the deficit and debt targets do not change compared to the previous economic governance, the a new framework will be set on the trajectory of spending. In this roadmap that the Government must present to Brussels, the Government must set a ceiling on the increase in annual expenditure. The indicator will be set at net primary expenditure and will exclude interest on debt and other expenditure considered cyclical.
European Commission sources confirm that some flexibility will be granted to countries in the delivery of structural plans, so that the delay does not constitute a major problem for Spain. The rules provide that Member States and the Commission may agree to extend this period for a reasonable period, reported Community sources. In any case, Brussels will begin to evaluate the plans immediately after their submission and will publish its assessment.
