In an informal Eurogroup meeting taking place in Riga,
Malta's finance minister Prof. Edward Scicluna defended the
European Commission with regards to the flexibility it granted to
EU member states in drawing and carrying out their own fiscal
policies and public spending plans. Prof. Scicluna's argument
pointed out that Malta utilised the European Commission's
country-specific recommendations wisely in drawing and executing
its own public spending strategy.
The background against which Prof. Scicluna's argument was
set was Greek's alarming situation. During the informal
meeting, the European Commission, European Central Bank and
International Monetary Fund informed the ministers about the latest
updates and turn of events in the discussions with Greek
authorities related to Greek's bailout programme and fiscal
policy was an important subject to take into account.
