Brussels calls for still more austerity

The economic crisis has taken a heavy toll on EU Member States' public finances, making debt sustainability a major challenge across the Union. At the same time, a major overhaul of EU fiscal surveillance is underway.

The 2011 Report on the Public Finances in EMU published on the 12 September 2011 took a look at recent developments in public finances, analysed new ways of assessing debt sustainability and described the changes to budgetary surveillance in the EU. These reforms put prevention and debt reduction at the centre of EU budgetary surveillance, reflecting on the lessons of the crisis.

EUObserver reported on the launch of the report the conclusion that EU countries under market pressures must be prepared to swallow even stronger doses of austerity.

• Primary Source

European Commission: RAPID: Press Release, IP/11/1019: 2011 Report on Public Finances: the sustainability of the public finances is the key policy concern in the wake of the crisis http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/1019&format=PDF&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Economy, No.3, 2011: 2011 Report on Public finances in EMU http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy/2011/pdf/ee-2011-3_en.pdf

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