EU Governments Agree on More Flexible Fiscal Rules, Easing Financial Struggles and Reforming National Spending

European Union finance ministers have reached an agreement on the latest reform of the bloc's fiscal rules, allowing more time for cutting public debt and creating incentives for public investment. The new rules set minimum amounts of deficit and debt reduction, with a more lenient approach than the previous framework. The deal will now be negotiated with the European Parliament before becoming law. The reform was prompted by the record-high national debt levels caused by pandemic recovery programs and the need for new spending to meet climate, industrial policy, and security goals.