EU ends budget action against six countries

The European Commission ended on Monday disciplinary budget action against six European Union countries and said that two more had taken the steps needed to bring budget shortfalls within EU limits.
The six countries that are no longer under the disciplinary action, called the excessive deficit procedure, are Austria, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The two countries that are working to cut the deficit as required are Poland and Croatia, the Commission said.
Under EU law, governments must not run budget deficits higher than 3 percent of economic output. If they do, they fall under the excessive deficit procedure, which could lead to fines.