The EU on Wednesday eased its spending rules to help member states confront the energy shock sparked by the Middle East war, as back-to-back crises leave countries in a fiscal squeeze.The EU executive added Bulgaria to a growing list of countries in the public spending sin bin over their mushrooming deficits as it published views on each country's fiscal health.
The European Union's second- and third-biggest economies, France and Italy, have already been handed formal reprimands alongside eight other member states.
Under EU rules, the public deficit -- when government revenue is not enough to cover spending -- must not be above 3 percent of gross domestic product.
The rules were suspended during the coronavirus pandemic, and then again during the energy crisis that followed Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine -- both of which piled massive pressure on European nations' finances.
A reformed set of spending rules kicked into force in 2024, and in theory member states risk fines for violations, though the EU has never gone so far.
