The European Union may grant France and Spain more time to get their economies back in shape if final data shows they have made convincing budgetary efforts and suffered unexpected growth setbacks, the bloc's top economy official said Friday.
EU Economy Commissioner Olli Rehn said no decisions would be taken on the matter before May.
The goal of a 3-per-cent deficit this year also appears "out of reach" for Slovenia, while the Netherlands may fall short because of its nationalization of the SNS Reaal banking group, Rehn warned. Further efforts are needed in Britain and Belgium too, he said.
Rehn had more upbeat news for Italy, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania, saying that they are candidates for being removed from the EU's excessive deficit procedure this year.