EU to vote on Bulgaria's excessive deficit procedure

EU finance ministers are due to vote on 10 July on a proposal to place Bulgaria under the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP), according to the agenda for their meeting in Brussels.

The move follows the European Commission's assessment published in June. The proposal is based on Bulgaria's projected general government deficit of 4.1% of GDP this year and forecasts that it will remain above the EU's 3% of GDP limit in 2027.

According to the meeting documents, the temporary flexibility allowing defence spending of up to 1.5% of GDP does not fully explain the projected overshoot.

The Council of the European Union said nine other member states are currently subject to the same procedure: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

• Council of EU confirms excessive deficit procedure against Bulgaria

On 26 June, the Council issued six recommendations to Bulgaria aimed at bringing its public finances back into line with EU rules and closing the procedure by 2029.

Editor: Ivo Ivanov