EU finance ministers urge Poland to eliminate excessive deficit by 2028
EU finance ministers have recommended that Poland should return to observing the bloc's deficit rule of 3 percent of GDP by the year 2028.
Since June 2024, Poland has been under the EU's excessive deficit procedure, which brings more scrutiny from the European Commission (EC), the EU's executive arm, when it comes to government spending and revenues.
The Tuesday decision by the EU member states' finance ministers, who met in Brussels under Poland's presidency of the Council of the European Union, is part of the procedure.
The ministers also said that the nominal growth rate of Poland's net spending should not exceed 6.3 percent in 2025, 4.4 percent in 2026, 4 percent in 2027 and 3.5 percent in 2028.
The Polish government had prepared a budget plan in which it showed the EC how it aimed to bring public spending under control and limit the country's debt. The EC accepted the plan and suggested to the Council of the European Union, a body in which decisions are made by respective member states' ministers, to issue recommendations based on the Polish assumptions. Acknowledging Poland's increased defence spending, the EC agreed to non-linear emergence from the excessive deficit in subsequent years.
The Polish Ministry of Finance is obliged to send reports to the EC every six months, with the first due in April.
On Tuesday, the Council also issued recommendations for Belgium, France, Italy, Malta, Slovakia and Romania, which have also been under the excessive deficit regime.
According to EU treaties, member states should keep their deficits below 3 percent of GDP, while public debt should not exceed 60 percent of GDP. (PAP)
jd/ jch