German Finance Minister says countries don’t agree on fiscal rules reform -FT

BERLIN, June 9 (Reuters) – European Union countries are failing to arrive at an agreement over the reform of the bloc’s fiscal rules, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner told the Financial Times.

“There is still no landing zone — a solution that convinces everyone,” he said in an interview.

The rules, called the Stability and Growth Pact, were suspended in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic and will remain suspended until the end of 2023 due to the war in Ukraine.

An agreement was expected before the end of year so that the new rules could be implemented in 2024, but Lindner’s comments dent hopes of a deal by then.

The Commission proposes bilateral agreements between Brussels and the member states for more flexible debt-reduction paths, what Germany sees this with suspicion, arguing this would give too much discretion to the Commission.

“Even if others are quieter, you shouldn’t misinterpret that as meaning they don’t agree with us,” he told the FT. “We have a lot of other countries on our side.”