Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero stated that the new European ten-year economic plan, the achievement of which is announced in the coming months, should have binding targets and “corrective measures” for member states that do not meet these targets, European media reported on Friday.
Zapatero made this statement on Thursday in a speech ahead of the official inauguration of the Spanish EU presidency. “It is absolutely necessary that the economic strategy 2020… has a new nature, a binding nature,” Zapatero said. The Spanish leader proposed potential penalties for EU member states that fail to achieve the agreed economic goals, such as withholding payments from the European budget. “We will propose this. But I cannot predict the outcome of the discussion,” said the socialist prime minister. He suggested that the targets could be imposed to strengthen the single market, which needs to guarantee the freedom of movement of capital, labor, and goods. (H)
