Budget Deficit Procedure in Abeyance
The European Commission has put the excessive budget deficit procedure for its nine members, Romania included, in abeyance
Roxana Vasile, 26.11.2025, 13:50
The European Commission on Tuesday announced the excessive deficit procedure against nine members, Romania included, had been put on abeyance. The other countries are Austria, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland and Slovakia. In concrete terms, this means that no further procedural steps are taken at this stage but the ongoing procedure remains open and the member states are bound by the respective Council recommendation. Next summer the European Commission is expected to reassess the situation on complete data on 2025 and to decide whether to reinstate it or not.
The purpose of the budget deficit procedure is that the EU states keep their budgets under control. The procedure against Romania was kicked off in 2020, but got suspended during the pandemics with the relaxation of the budgetary requirements for all member states in order to allow them to better handle the effects of the medical crisis. Later, against the deteriorating budgetary situations for several economies and the increasing need for European investment in fields such as environmental protection, digitalization or defence, authorities in Brussels agreed to ease the fiscal rules once again in April. The new amendments maintain the limits regarding debts and public deficits provided by the European treaties (namely 60% of the GDP, 3% of the GDP respectively) but provide for more space for adjusting imbalances.
In order to benefit the new derogation, the national authorities must draw up coherent recovery plans for the budget deficits and public debts under the maximum limits admitted for a period of four years, which could be raised to seven if reforms and investment are being implemented.
With the highest budget deficit in the European Union, of 8.4%, Romania’s situation has been described by the community executive as fragile and authorities have been encouraged to remain vigilant and implement the measures of fiscal adjustment assumed.
On the other hand, the reforms pledged and partly implemented, though very unpopular at home, have been well-received in Brussels. According to the Romanian Finance Ministry, thanks to the fiscal consolidation, which it considers consistent, at the end of 2026, Romania’s budget deficit would be curbed around 6% of the GDP.
As a result of the headway made – the Ministry says – the European Commission hasn’t proposed additional steps within the procedure of macroeconomic conditionality, neither has it proposed any EU funds suspension.
ʺRomania can aspire to more: to the consolidation of its public investment, stepping up strategic projects and the creation of a fiscal framework to support longtime economic growth. We continue on this direction steadily in order to bring the public finances back on a sustainable track and to turn today’s progress into an advantage for Romania’s future” says the Romanian Finance Minister, Alexandru Nazare. Romania will concurrently carry on its half-yearly reports on the implementation of the measures aimed at curbing the country’s budget deficit while the European Commission will be actively monitoring its fiscal-budgetary situation.
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