The European Commission examined the updated stability and convergence programmes (SCPs) of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovenia. In line with the Commission's assessments of a first group of fourteen Member States last week, the evaluation must be seen against the background of the economic and financial crisis which has led to a sharp deterioration of public finances since 2009 and triggered the Council decisions to open Excess Deficit Procedures (EDP) for a large majority of Member States.

Within the batch of countries assessed on Wednesday, only Denmark and Luxemburg have kept their general government deficits below 3% in 2009, although their fiscal situation is set to deteriorate markedly in 2010. For most countries this year will mark a fiscal consolidation process consistent with the recommendation set out in the EDPs and, in the case of Latvia, Hungary and Romania, with the conditions set out in the international financial assistance programmes. As to the budgetary targets set out in the programmes, the growth assumptions underlying these projections are in several cases optimistic especially in outer years, while the budgetary consolidation strategy is often not sufficiently backed up by concrete measures from 2011 onwards. "The economic and financial crisis has taken its toll on public finances. Fiscal stimulus was necessary to support the recovery but the past two years have wiped out 20 years of fiscal consolidation. This means that we have to come back gradually to budgetary rigour next year at the latest," said Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn.