The EU Council has closed the excessive deficit procedure for Malta after the country’s government deficit fell back below the bloc’s 3% of GDP threshold.
An excessive deficit procedure, or EDP, is used in the EU to monitor member states whose budget deficits rise above the 3% limit set in EU treaties, the Council of the EU noted in a release on Friday.
The EDP for Malta was opened on 26 July 2024 after the country recorded a budget deficit of 4.9% in 2023.
The Council said it decided to “abrogate” — formally end — the procedure because Malta’s general government deficit had been reduced “successfully and durably” to below 3% of GDP.
Other countries still under scrutiny
Nine other EU member states remain under an excessive deficit procedure: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania, the Council said.
Under the process, the Council can recommend a deadline for a country to correct an excessive deficit and set out a “net expenditure path” — a spending plan intended to keep the deficit below the 3% threshold.
Malta was previously told to end its excessive deficit situation by 2027, following a Council recommendation on 21 January 2025.
