BRUSSELS: The European Commission on Thursday officially declared Spain and Portugal in violation of the EU rules on government overspending, the first step towards unprecedented penalties against members of the 28-country bloc.
“The Commission confirms that Spain and Portugal will not correct their excessive deficits by the recommended deadline,” the EU’s executive arm said in a statement.
If endorsed by the EU’s finance ministers, the commission is then legally obliged to propose fines against the two neighbouring countries, which were both hit hard by the financial crisis.
“Lately, the two countries have veered off track in the correction of their excessive deficits and have not met their budgetary targets,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU Commission’s vice-president in charge of the euro.
