Indicateurs : Net lending (-), net borrowing (+)

Description: The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is a set of rules designed to ensure that countries in the European Union pursue sound public finances and coordinate their fiscal policies. Some of the SGP's rules aim to prevent fiscal policies from heading in potentially problematic directions, while others are there to correct excessive budget deficits or excessive public debt burdens. In the corrective arm of the SGP, the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) ensures the correction of excessive budget deficits or excessive public debt levels. It is a step-by-step approach for reining in excessive deficits and reducing excessive debts.

The Treaty on the functioning of the European Union defines an excessive budget deficit as one greater than 3% of GDP. Public debt is considered excessive under the Treaty if it exceeds 60% of GDP without diminishing at an adequate rate (defined as a decrease in the excess debt by 5% per year on average over three years).

Unit: % of GDP at current prices, unless otherwise mentioned

Source: Eurostat