Spain defies EU over deficit rules

The tough new fiscal compact at the forefront of Europe’s efforts to contain the debt crisis which were formally adopted on the 2 March 2012 in Brussels, faced their first challenge after Spain’s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy made a surprise announcement later on the same day that his country intended to breach its budget target for 2012.

ESO: Background information: Madrid presses EU to ease deficit targets http://www.europeansources.info/record/madrid-presses-eu-to-ease-deficit-targets/

El País, 2.3.12: Spain defies Brussels by granting itself the leeway it was denied on the deficit http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/03/02/inenglish/1330692080_137998.html

BBC News, 2.3.12: Spain to miss 2012 budget deficit target, says Rajoy http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17235179

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