According to what it was agreed by the Council and after the assessment of the Eurogroup, the timely correction of the excessive deficit in Spain should be ensured by an additional frontloaded effort of the order of 0,5% of GDP, beyond what has already been announced by the Spanish authorities so far, and by an early adoption and strict implementation of the new mechanisms in the Budget Stability Law.

The Council discussed the current fiscal situation in Spain, and the heads of delegations reached an agreement in which they asked to the Spanish authorities for an extra effort with regard to the timely correction of the excessive deficit which consist in an additional frontloaded effort of the order of 0,5% of GDP, beyond what has already been announced by the Spanish authorities so far, and by an early adoption and strict implementation of the new mechanisms in the Budget Stability Law on the monitoring and control of budget compliance at different levels of government. The Spanish government expressed its readiness to consider this in the further budgetary process.

Heads of delegations at the Council meeting also welcomed the commitment of the Spanish government to meet the 2013 deadline for the correction of the excessive deficit, bringing the deficit below 3% of GDP. They also underlined their support to the Spanish authorities' resolve to adopt the 2012 budget as soon as possible, containing a substantial consolidation effort, which is backed-up with well-specified measures ensuring that this correction is credible and sustainable at all levels of government.

On the other hand, Herman Van Rompuy the President of the European Council backed in his speech at the European Parliament the rules agreed in the new Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, that was signed on the occasion of the European Council of 1 and 2 of March. According to Mr Van Rompuy, they do not prevent countercyclical deficits as long as the structural deficit over the economic cycle is balanced, or at least remains very small. Nor do they limit public expenditure: they simply provide that this must not be financed by excessive borrowing.