The Council of the European Union on Friday opened formal procedures against EU member states facing an excessive deficit and decided to keep the existing excessive deficit procedure open in the case of Romania, DPA and Euronews report. France, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovakia are the EU member states which got into the procedure of excessive deficit (PDE) and must reduce public expenditure, announced the European Commission recently.In a press release of the EU Council shows that ‘Romania who has been in procedure of excessive deficit since 2020, did not take efficient measures to correct its deficit and, as a result, the procedure should be kept open’. The purpose of the procedure for excessive deficit is that the EU member states to keep their budgets under control. In theory, the procedures can lead to fines, but it has never happened. Following the opening of the procedures, until the end of the year, the EU member states will be asked to approve the EC recommendations regarding the way of solving the issue of deficits within the approved time limit.Out of the member states in procedure of excessive deficit, in 2023, Italy had the highest budgetary deficit (7.4% of GDP), followed by Hungary *6.7% of GDP), Romania (6.6% of GDP), France (5.5%of GDP), Poland (5.1% of GDP), Malta and Slovakia (both with 4.9 of GDP) and Belgium (4.4% of GDP).In April, EU member states adopted new rules governing the level of public debt that an EU country can accumulate and the size of the budget deficit allowed. The new rules keep the debt and deficit limits set in the treaties at 60% and 3% of GDP respectively, but give countries more room for manoeuvre to negotiate their adjustment paths with the European Commission in four-year plans, which can be extended to seven years if they adopt reforms and investment. There are also common reduction targets to ensure adjustments are not delayed. Countries that exceed the debt ceiling must reduce their debt by one percentage point each year if it exceeds 90% of GDP, and by half a percentage point if it falls below that level. Countries with a deficit of 3% will still have to correct it to 1.5% to have a reserve to fall back on in times of crisis.
The multimedia exhibition Aici Se Vede Jazz (Here You Can See Jazz), set to open at SAC Berthelot in Bucharest, explores how jazz found its way in the pre-1990 Bucharest and “the contemporary ways to listen, visualize, perform and relate artistically to its world of sounds and ideas.” Bucharest had improvised studios, rehearsals with the […]
Aon Romania, part of the global group Aon plc, draws attention to the urgent need for structured solutions to protect trade receivables in an economic context characterized by high volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. The subject was central to the discussions at TRADE CREDIT TALKS - Receivable Protection in the Age of Volatility, where business leaders […]
Bucharest’s shopping centres posted mixed financial results in 2024, with major discrepancies between the city’s largest malls and mid-sized retail centres, according to financial analysis platform RisCo.ro. The data shows contrasts in profitability and turnover, as well as significant losses among some of the capital’s biggest retail projects. AFI Cotroceni recorded the highest turnover of […]
Nearly nine in ten Romanians expect to spend less or no more than last year on Christmas shopping, according to a new survey by tbi bank that highlights the impact of rising prices on household budgets ahead of the winter holidays. The nationwide poll, conducted in October on a sample of 1,011 respondents, shows that […]
A total of 77% of homeowners who answered a survey by ING and Ipsos said they implemented measures in the past three years to improve energy efficiency. The need to save on energy bills was the main driver of household modernization, the survey showed. Most respondents (62%) said they did so to reduce energy costs, […]
The Romanian Constitutional Court (CCR) has ruled that a series of tax increases, including higher levies on housing, land, cars based on pollution norms, and stock market gains, may take effect starting January 1, 2026, Biziday.ro reported. The Court rejected a challenge filed by the opposition party AUR against the government’s fiscal reform law, on […]
