In accordance with the provisions of the 12 July 2014 law, the CNFP has assessed compliance with the structural balance rule on the basis of the figures transmitted to the European Commission (Eurostat) in the so-called “EDP notifications”.
These EDP notifications are submitted by the Government/STATEC on 1 April and 1 October of each year and it is on the basis of those figures that the CNFP is called to assess whether the structural balance is complied with or whether there is a ‘significant deviation’ triggering the automatic correction mechanism.
Due to the effects of the pandemic, the budgetary rule on the structural balance will not be respected for the year 2020. However, following the activation of the general escape clause by the European Commission, which allows that non-compliance with the medium-term budgetary objective (MTO) will have no impact, the finding does not imply the triggering of the correction mechanism.
Regarding the analysis for 2021, the budgetary rule on the structural balance would probably not be respected. Due to the continued activation of the general escape clause by the European and national authorities, the correction mechanism would not be triggered for 2021.
A more detailed assessment (in French only) can be downloaded through the link below.