EU Strikes Fiscal Rules Deal

The fiscal rules that bind the euro area’s eclectic economies exist to bring down deficits and put limits on how much debt governments can build up. The old rules were suspended to allow spending leeway during the pandemic and energy crisis and are considered to be outdated.

Efforts to agree on a new framework exposed differences between hawkish countries led by Germany that called for strict targets to reduce debt, and those led by France that were concerned about the need to finance the defense and digital industries, as well as the green transition.

After months of technical discussions led by Spain, Paris and Berlin resolved the remaining differences between the EU’s two biggest economies late on Tuesday

Bloomberg 20 december 2023

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-20/eu-strikes-fiscal-rules-deal-with-gradual-path-to-rein-in-debt

When the euro was born everyone knew that sooner or later a crisis would occur. It was also clear that the stability and growth pact was – as I have said before – “stupid”

Romano Prodi FT May 20 2010

https://englundmacro.blogspot.com/2012/05/ar-stabilitetspakten-stupid-olli-rehn.html

Vi ser nu att stabilitetspakten verkligen honoreras.

Det är inget tvivel om att både tyskar och fransmän är inriktade på att klara detta, trots sina bekymmer.

Det sätter en norm för framtiden och därför känner jag mig trygg i den delen.

Göran Persson i Tiden (s) nr 3, 2003

EMU Stabilitetspakten Stability and Growth Pact (nejtillemu.com)

Göran Perssons politiska år förmörkades av den väldiga förlusten
i folkomröstningen om euron "som ju i sitt slag är utan motstycke".

Persson har ännu inga klara analyser av vad bakslaget berodde på och hur han, som är stolt över sin politiska fingertoppskänsla, kunde göra en sådan monumental felbedömning av möjligheten att få opinionen med sig.

Intervju i DN 20/12 2003

Göran Persson, EMU och Federalismen

Göran Persson, EMU och Federalismen (nejtillemu.com)

“Member States shall regard their economic policies as a matter of common concern.” 

From this obligation, which EU countries are treaty-bound to honour, flows the extraordinary fact that Europe’s sovereign governments regularly hold each other to account for their budgets. Anywhere else, that would be a supremely national matter.

Most member states agree it’s necessary to wrap things up soon, not least because if they don’t then the old rules kick back in.

“Common concern” will still focus on the quantity more than the quality of spending by member states. 

The details of fiscal rules should be no hill to die on, no matter the domestic politics of claiming victory in Brussels. 

Martin Sandbu Financial Times 22 October 2023

https://www.ft.com/content/18df3cee-3ad3-4b8d-9631-04b7ffa06cfc