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Germany and Netherlands push for minimum debt targets for EU countries

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Germany and Netherlands push for minimum debt targets for EU countries

The continued reform of the European Union’s fiscal guidelines has taken a brand new flip after Germany and the Netherlands got here ahead with calls for for minimal debt discount targets, immediately difficult the European Fee’s strategy based mostly on tailored nationwide plans.

EU legislation requires international locations to maintain their finances deficit beneath 3% of gross home product (GDP) and public debt beneath 60% in relation to GDP however many international locations exceed these thresholds after years of intense spending to cushion the impression of the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s conflict in Ukraine and the vitality disaster.

The European Fee argues this new financial actuality warrants a reform of the bloc’s fiscal guidelines and has taken the primary steps to revise the present framework.

In a report printed final November, the Fee proposed to maintain each the three% and the 60% targets untouched however add higher flexibility in order that governments can adapt the goals to the precise circumstances of their international locations.

Beneath the plan, EU states would negotiate their very own nationwide blueprints with Brussels to manage public deficit and step by step lower debt throughout a four-year interval.

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Extremely indebted international locations like Greece and Italy might be granted an additional three years to regulate their funds and return to “prudent” fiscal insurance policies.

In a notable change, the norm that imposed a uniform 1/twentieth fee of debt discount can be scrapped and changed by distinctive pathways. This norm has been criticised for forcing painful sacrifices and exacerbating financial crises.

However Germany and the Netherlands, two international locations identified for advocating fiscal moderation, disagree with this strategy and are actually demanding minimal targets for indebted international locations.

In a non-paper seen by Euronews, Germany makes the case for a one-size-fits-all rule that ought to assure a decline in debt ranges of an “considerable magnitude.”

This “frequent safeguard” would compel international locations which have a debt ratio above 60% of GDP to cut back their debt ranges by a minimum of 0.5% per 12 months.

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Nations effectively above that threshold would want to cut back their debt by a minimum of 1% per 12 months, based on the German doc.

“The present concepts of the Fee must be amended in a means that the medium-term fiscal plans result in a (ample) decline in excessive debt ratios in annually… it must also be ensured that an precise discount in debt ratios on an annual foundation is achieved,” the non-paper says.

Germany additionally suggests “easy and clear” guidelines to handle public expenditure and a provision to routinely set off a brand new reform course of if excessive debt persists.

“If the reformed framework doesn’t obtain a discount within the debt ratios, it should be revised after a most interval of 4 years,” the non-paper says.

Days after the German doc leaked to the press, Dutch Finance Minister Sigrid Kaag threw her assist behind the thought of a “frequent numerical benchmark” to forestall country-specific plans from changing into “idiosyncratic.”

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“We predict it is extremely necessary that there’s variance, that there’s area for reform and investments, however in fact, debt discount must be tangible and must be measurable,” Kaag informed the Financial Times.

“We would like ample debt discount.”

Kaag, nonetheless, didn’t specify the annual ratios, as Germany did in its non-paper.

Euronews reached out to the Netherlands finance ministry asking for extra particulars.

In response to the statements, Veerle Nuyts, a European Fee spokesperson, mentioned Brussels would unveil legislative proposals “within the coming weeks” to advance the political debate however refused to say whether or not the proposals would function the minimal targets advocated by Germany and the Netherlands.

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“The final word intention is to make sure a broad consensus on this necessary subject,” Nuyts mentioned, noting engagement with governments continued on “remaining open points.”

She additionally mentioned the conclusions from final month’s assembly of financial and finance ministers, which included a reference to “the appropriateness and design of frequent quantitative benchmark,” supplied a “stable basis” for the Fee’s work.

Brussels is decided to conclude the reform course of by the tip of the 12 months and have the brand new fiscal guidelines in place by January 2024, an formidable objective additionally shared by member states.

The brand new framework is anticipated to take note of the large injection of money wanted to hurry up the EU’s inexperienced and digital transition, a twin effort estimated to price €650 billion in extra investments per 12 months till 2030.

EU international locations have spent the final months discussing how you can strike a balancing act between robust investments and sustainable debt discount, with no clear reply in sight.

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The Fee, in the meantime, has determined to delay fines for non-compliant international locations till subsequent 12 months.

On the finish of the third quarter of 2022, authorities debt stood at 93% of GDP within the euro space and 85.1% within the European Union. Greece had the best ratio, at 178.2%, adopted by Italy with a 147.3% fee.

In that very same interval, German debt stood at 66.6% of GDP, whereas the Netherlands had a 49% fee, based on Eurostat.

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NBC Orders More Episodes of New Fall Comedy St. Denis Medical

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NBC Orders More Episodes of New Fall Comedy St. Denis Medical


‘St. Denis Medical’ Season 1 Episode Count NBC, More Episodes Order



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Mexico hot tub death: US tourist who was electrocuted remembered as ‘big family man’ who had 'heart of gold’

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Mexico hot tub death: US tourist who was electrocuted remembered as ‘big family man’ who had 'heart of gold’

An American tourist who died after being electrocuted in a hot tub while vacationing with his wife in Mexico is now being remembered as a “real big family man” who had a “heart of gold.” 

Jorge Guillen, a 43-year-old from El Paso, Texas, according to media reports, died June 11 “in the jacuzzi of a complex of private condominiums in Puerto Peñasco, Sonora after an electric discharge,” Mexican prosecutors say. His wife, Lizette Zambrano, 35, remains in critical condition after reportedly being transferred to an American hospital. 

“Our best friends have experienced a horrible accident. Jorge had a heart of gold and was always there for family and friends. The love they shared was one for ages,” reads a GoFundMe page set up for the couple. 

Video purportedly taken from the scene showed people screaming as they gathered around a beachfront hot tub following the incident. In the footage, a dark object could be seen bobbing around in the water. 

MAN KILLED AFTER GETTING ELECTROCUTED IN SEASIDE RESORT JACUZZI 

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Jorge Guillen and Lizette Zambrano are from El Paso, Texas, according to media reports. (GoFundMe)

Western Technical College – where Guillen was a student – held a moment of silence in honor of him Friday during a graduation ceremony, according to KFOX14/CBS4. 

“Those who knew George knew that he was enthusiastic. He was passionate. He loved HVAC. He was a real big family man. Definitely a very respectable, professional young man,” the trade school’s president, Maxine Valencia, said to the station. 

“We are just as saddened as the rest of the world about the passing of our beloved student, Jorge Guillen. The news reached us last night through one of Jorge’s classmates,” the school also wrote on Facebook. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the family of his wife, Lizzette Zambrano, who remains in critical condition.” 

MEXICAN AUTHORITIES FIND BODIES OF 4 MEN, 2 WOMEN PILED UP IN RESORT CITY 

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Puerto-Penasco-Mexico

This September 2018 photo shows a beach at Puerto Peñasco in the state of Sonora, Mexico. (AP Photo/Annika Wolters)

Zambrano is described by the El Paso Times as being a former teacher in the Ysleta Independent School District. 

During the investigation, Mexican officials spoke with someone who is familiar with the couple, who said she saw the two of them were not moving in the jacuzzi. 

The witness also reportedly told investigators she attempted to get into the jacuzzi after discovering the couple was non-responsive, but she was shocked. 

Puerto-Penasco-Sign

Prosecutors in Mexico have launched an investigation into the death of Guillen and the injury of Zambrano in Puerto Peñasco. (PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)

 

The witness told investigators that was the moment she called for help. 

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Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report. 

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Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections

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Hundreds of thousands in France protest far right ahead of snap elections

Anti-racism groups joined French unions and a new left-wing coalition in protests across France against the surging nationalist far right as frenzied campaigning is under way in advance of snap parliamentary elections.

About 21,000 police and gendarmes were deployed at rallies on Saturday with authorities expecting between 300,000 and 500,000 protesters nationwide, France’s interior ministry said.

In Paris, those who feared the elections would produce France’s first far-right government since World War II gathered at Place de la Republique before marching.

Crowds have been gathering daily in France, ever since the anti-immigration National Rally (RN) made historic gains in the European Parliament elections last Sunday. This prompted Macron to dissolve the National Assembly and call for a snap legislative election, to be held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.

A large crowd turned out in spite of rainy and windy weather on Saturday holding placards reading “Liberty for all, Equality for all and Fraternity with all” – a reference to France’s national motto – as well as “Let’s break frontiers, documents for all, no to the immigration bill.”

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Speaking from Place de Republique, hard-left CGT union leader Sophie Binet told reporters, “We are marching because we are extremely worried [RN’s leader] Jordan Bardella could become the next prime minister … We want to prevent this disaster.”

Demonstrators march with placards during an anti-far right rally in Nantes [Romain Perrocheau/AFP]

‘Ideology based on fear’

Among the protesters in Paris, some also chanted “Free Palestine, viva Palestina,” and wore Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.

Among them was Nour Cekar, a 16-year-old high school student, who has French and Algerian parents and wears the hijab.

“To me, the extreme right is a danger because it supports an ideology based on the fear of the other, whereas we are all French citizens despite our differences,” she said.

Cekar added she will vote for the left-wing coalition because “it is the only political [entity] that addresses racism and Islamophobia.”

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Meanwhile, in the French Riviera city of Nice, demonstrators marched down Jean Medecin Avenue, the city’s main shopping street, chanting against the National Rally and its leader Bardella, 28, as well as President Emmanuel Macron.

Protest organisers said 3,000 took part, while police put the number at 2,500.

Nice is traditionally a conservative stronghold, but has, over the past decade, turned firmly in favour of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally and her far-right rival Eric Zemmour.

Nacira Guenif, a sociologist at University Paris 8, called the rise of the far right a “very dangerous situation”, and said many young people who attended rallies on Saturday denounced “the fascists”.

“This is a greater danger than ever. This is the first time where the far right rose to 30 percent of the vote in the European elections. The reason the youth and a lot of people were on the streets today is to say they don’t want this to happen in France,” Guenif told Al Jazeera.

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Demonstrators march in Nantes on Saturday [Romain Perrocheau/AFP]

Huge gamble for Macron

Reporting from Paris, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler noted the French president’s call of the election took everybody, including his own ministers, by surprise.

“Macron says he called this election because he has heard the voice of the people, of the voters. He said he’s seen the EU election that took place and saw that people are unhappy with his policies in this government. Therefore, he says he’s given the choice back to the people.”

The move is a huge gamble, she said. “People are here to say they fear the far right that would destroy France’s values of rights, liberty, freedom and equality.”

To prevent the National Rally party from winning the upcoming elections, left-wing parties finally agreed on Friday to set aside differences over the wars on Gaza and Ukraine and form a coalition. They urged French citizens to defeat the far right.

French opinion polls suggest the National Rally is expected to be ahead in the first round of the parliamentary elections. The party came out on top in the European elections last week, garnering more than 30 percent of the vote cast in France, almost twice as many votes as Macron’s party Renaissance.

Macron’s term is still on for three more years, and he would retain control over foreign affairs and defence regardless of the result. But his presidency would be weakened if the National Rally wins, which could put Bardella on track to become the next prime minister, with authority over domestic and economic affairs.

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French voters go to the polls first on June 30 and again July 7.

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