期刊名称：Euro Area Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Statistics
印刷版ISSN：1830-3420
电子版ISSN：1830-3439
出版年度：2021
卷号：2021
语种：English
出版社：European Central Bank
摘要：The stability programmes for the period 2021-24 for the first time provide comprehensive details of the euro area countries’ mediumterm budgetary plans in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Last year, given the newness of the major health crisis and the extreme uncertainty associated with it, euro area governments mostly abstained from submitting detailed fiscal plans. The updated programmes, which were submitted at the end of April 2021, were prepared by governments in the knowledge that the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) would remain active until at least the end of 2021, allowing them to deviate from the SGP’s adjustment requirements. [1] Furthermore, the programmes were supposed to reflect the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) adopted by the European Council on 20 July 2020 for the period 2020- 21, which did not include numerical budgetary adjustment requirements, but instead called for fiscal policies aimed at achieving prudent medium-term fiscal positions and ensuring debt sustainability “when economic conditions allow”. For the near term, it was recommended that governments “take all necessary measures to effectively address the pandemic, sustain the economy and support the ensuing recovery”. Finally, the programmes are a first reflection of the recovery and resilience plans that Member States had to submit by 30 April outlining the reforms and projects they intend to implement using the funds available through the Next Generation EU (NGEU). Against this background, this box reviews euro area countries’ medium-term budgetary plans for exiting the current crisis and points to remaining challenges arising from the recommendations for fiscal policies issued by the European Commission on 2 June in its 2021 European Semester Spring Package.
