A new alarm has been sounded by the European Commission about the public accounts of four member states: according to the Report of the Commission on public finances approved by the EC executive on 14 May, Italy, France, Germany and Portugal are still running too high a public deficit. With a view to respecting the commitments assumed by all EU member states to achieve a situation of bringing their accounts “close to balance” by 2004, the Commission has invited the governments of the four countries to resume without further delay the process of making good the ground they have lost and putting their public accounts in order. Germany and Portugal, in particular which were already given an early warning last February present a deficit for 2002 that is “dangerously close” to the threshold of 3% of GDP prescribed by the Maastricht Treaty and the Stability Pact. Italy, which together with Belgium and Greece presents the most negative situation of public debt among the Fifteen, is urged to rectify the situation by “realizing significant budgetary surpluses for several decades” and by giving priority to long-term policies for the reduction of its deficit. The report also asks all member states to adopt the necessary measures to respond to the ageing of the population, which, according to the current trend, is estimated to impact on GDP to the tune of 4-8% in the next few years. G.A.G.
