Finance Minister Fernando Medina was planning to travel to Brussels this Wednesday to attend a Eurogroup meeting aimed at discussing reform of deficit and public debt rules, where eurozone and EU finance ministers, According to Diário de Notícias.
Fernando Medina was due to represent Portugal, but he missed the morning Eurogroup meeting due to controversy surrounding the sacking of Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
EU countries are trying to reach consensus on revising budget rules. Ministers will meet this Wednesday in Brussels without the presence of Fernando Medina, but the discussion will not take place until November 27, Thursday, to discuss the economic management rules for 2024, which should replace the rules contained in the document “Stability and Growth”. The pact, which has been suspended since 2020,
Regarding the possibility of reaching an agreement between European Union (EU) member states, European sources indicated that pending these two meetings, the Ecofin meeting will not take place until December.
Issues such as the level of average annual reduction in government debt, the deficit margin that will be set and what deviations would lead to excessive deficit procedures, the same sources said, remain to be agreed upon.
Member states, according to the Brussels proposal, will have an autonomous role in decision-making to achieve the necessary goals.
“Member states will develop and submit plans outlining their budgetary goals, measures to address macroeconomic imbalances, and priority reforms and investments over a period of at least four years,” the proposal said, the newspaper reported.
Portugal advocates introducing a non-cyclical nature of this reform, so that during periods of higher economic growth, countries make greater efforts to reduce public debt and instead have a slower rate of reduction during periods of economic downturn.