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Spain will delay the submission of its budget draft to Brussels

by AI | 08.Oct 2024 | Europe in brief AI

Brussels warns Spain that there are “limits” to the flexibility for submitting the budget draft

The Spanish Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, during a press conference following the Council of Ministers, at the Palace of La Moncloa, on September 24, 2024, in Madrid (Spain). Photo: Diego Radamés / Europa Press

Luxembourg/Brussels – Spain will delay the submission of its draft budget to the European Commission after October 15, at which time it will deliver its medium-term structural fiscal plan to comply with the new EU fiscal rules, in line with its commitment to Brussels.

 “The Commission has noted that it wants budget plans not without measures, meaning that they should be associated with the presentation of the General State Budgets (PGE), therefore, the presentation of the budget plan is evidently directly associated with the progress we can make in terms of presenting the PGE,” explained Spanish Minister of Economy, Trade and Business, Carlos Cuerpo, on Monday.

In statements to the media in Luxembourg, where he participated in the meeting of Eurozone finance ministers, the Spanish minister affirmed that he has the “certainty and commitment” with the European Commission to launch his structural fiscal plan on October 15, although he will delay the submission of the draft budget to avoid delivering an extension that does not include the measures requested by Brussels.

“In a normal environment where by October 15 we do not have that PGE draft, we would have submitted a budget plan without economic policy measures and that will not happen because the Commission has asked for plans with economic policy measures, therefore, until we have the draft budget on the table, we will not present the budget plan,” he emphasized.

Cuerpo also pointed out that, on their part, the European Commission has “until the end of November to make an assessment of the structural fiscal plans”.

For its part, the European Commission warned Spain that there are “limits” to the flexibility in the deadlines that governments have to present their draft budget for 2025, which must complement the medium-term structural fiscal plans to comply with the new fiscal rules reactivated after four years of the pandemic.

This was pointed out by the European Commissioner of Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, who indicated that it is not possible to lose the connection between the budget project and the medium-term structural plans, as “both have to be connected and this means that the level of flexibility in the deadlines is there, but it is limited”. (October 7)