The European Commission (EC) sent on Wednesday a strong signal to Member States to carry out structural reforms and to continue consolidating their public finances. For two countries, the Commission opened the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure (MIP). One of them is Romania, followed by Portugal.
„Romania is experiencing macroeconomic imbalances, which requires policy action and monitoring. In the three consecutive EU-IMF programmes, external and internal imbalances have been significantly reduced. However, risks from the relatively large negative net international investment position and a weak medium-term export capacity deserve attention. Moreover financial sector stability has been preserved so far, but external and internal vulnerabilities of the banking sector remain,” EC notes.
Of the 16 countries identified in November as experiencing macroeconomic imbalances, the Commission stepped up the procedure for three countries: France (stage 5), Germany (stage 3) and Bulgaria (stage 5).
Following EC decision, Romania was placed in the second phase of the six of macroeconomic imbalance procedure.
“This is an important and balanced set of decisions which fully reflects the current economic situation. The Commission is demonstrating both the importance of structural reforms and the respect of our fiscal rules. Most of our Member States are doing the necessary efforts. Others need to accelerate and intensify their reform efforts and the reduction of their deficits and debt. We will continue to encourage them in this direction and will use all the legal tools at our disposal if necessary,” Commissioner Pierre Moscovici, responsible for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, said.
The Brussels institution is making these recommendations to the Council. They are expected to be discussed at the Council of Economic and Finance (ECOFIN) Ministers meeting in March.
Next month, the Commission will organise another round of bilateral meetings with the Member States to provide an opportunity to discuss the Country Reports. By mid-April, the Member States are expected to present their National Reform Programmes and their Stability or Convergence Programmes. Based on all these sources, the Commission will present a new, focussed set of Country Specific Recommendations for 2015-2016 in May, targeting the most important priorities to be tackled.