Is the European Commission too critical on Belgian fiscal policy?

Belgium didn’t show a lot of fiscal discipline in the good economic times. Since 2009 our country belongs to countries in the excessive deficit procedure with a strict surveillance of the European Commission. The nonsensical debate about austerity should be overcome. Unchanged policy is in any case no option. Rather than searching for the Holy Grail of the « critical’ » debt level one should approach things more from the perspective of risk management.

By a constitutional binding deficit rule policy makers will be forced to take the necessary budget measures and to stipulate a real long term policy for the public finances.