Mubasher: The European Commission forecast that six Eurozone countries’ budgets may break the standard European Union (EU) deficit standards in 2018.

Accordingly, the European Commission issued a warning to governments to remain within the specified limits, which entail that nominal budget deficits should remain under 3% of economic output or gross domestic product (GDP), while public debt should be under 60%.

The European Commission projected that the budget “draft assumptions” for Belgium, Italy, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, and France “posed a risk of not cutting the structural budget gap -- which strips out business cycle swings and one-offs -- fast enough,” Reuters reported citing an EU top executive as saying.

“We ask (them)....to take the necessary measures... to ensure that the 2018 budget will be compliant,” European Commission vice president Valdis Dombrovskis told a news conference on Wednesday.

Since its introduction in 1997, the European Commission’s pact has seen at least one EU member’s public finance overshoot the target each year.

The European Commission further highlighted that France, Belgium, and Italy were not reducing their debt at the pace required by the EU’s regulations.

Italy’s debt has reached 130% of its GDP, making it the second highest in that area after Greece.

The Commission said it will review Italy’s debt cutting plans in spring 2018.

“Euro zone finance ministers complain that the rules have become too complex and their application by the Commission has not been consistent, and the two sides are exploring ways to make the framework simpler,” according to Reuters.

The European Commission is capable of imposing fines and other penalties on countries who are not in compliance with its regulations.

Despite running a sizable deficit for over 10 years, France “was never penalised”, the news agency said, noting that Spain, Portugal, and Italy “have been shown what some budget-setters in other states considered excessive leniency.”