The Council of the EU has opened an excessive deficit procedure for Bulgaria after forecasting that the country’s government deficit will remain above the EU’s 3% of GDP limit in 2026 and 2027.
An excessive deficit procedure, known as an EDP, is part of the EU’s budget rules used when a member state’s government deficit breaches agreed thresholds under the bloc’s Stability and Growth Pact, the Council said in a statement on Friday.
The decision was based on Bulgaria’s projected 2026 deficit of 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), with the deficit expected to stay above 3% in 2027.
Bulgaria’s use of the “national escape clause” for defence spending — a flexibility built into the EU rules — did not fully account for the deficit being above the 3% threshold.
The Council also adopted a recommendation setting out a timetable and spending limits it said Bulgaria should follow to end the excessive deficit by 2029.
Spending limits and deadline for measures
Bulgaria should take “effective action” and submit the measures it plans to use to reduce the deficit by 15 October 2026, the Council said.
It also set limits for Bulgaria’s nominal cumulative net expenditure growth rate, saying it should not exceed 4.2% in 2026, 7.7% in 2027, 11.4% in 2028 and 15% in 2029.
Under EU treaties, member states are expected to keep government deficits below 3% of GDP, while government debt should not exceed 60% of GDP or should be falling towards it at a sufficient pace.
Once an EDP is launched, the Council places the member state under increased scrutiny and issues recommendations intended to bring the deficit back below the 3% threshold within a set deadline.
