EU member states adopted new rules on Monday governing the amount of public debt an EU country can accumulate and the size of budget deficit permitted, multiple diplomats confirmed to dpa.
The new, looser, fiscal rules have two parts. The individual economic condition of each EU country is to be given greater consideration when setting targets to reduce excessive debt and deficits.
At the same time, new fiscal regulations have clear minimum requirements for reducing debt ratios for highly indebted countries in the European Union.
Previous rules were long considered too complicated and strict for monitoring and enforcing debt requirements.
The adoption on Monday was the last necessary step for the long-planned reform of the fiscal regulations.