The European Commission has been handed new powers to oversee the draft budgets of eurozone countries and ensure they meet European Union standards.
Budgets that aren’t in line can be sent back to the nation for revision, according to a Reuters report.
The new powers follow months of legislative infighting, as some lawmakers expressed concerns over the expanded EU executive role. Eurozone economies have been struggling for months, with double-digit unemployment rates and escalating debt.
The new law is called the “two-pack” in EU lingo, Reuters reports.
The powers extended to the commission aren’t absolute, however. Governments told to consider revisions to their budgets can still refuse, Reuters reports, though doing so carries a risk of incurring EU legal action.
“These new laws are a key element in building stronger economic governance for the euro area and boosting the EU’s armor against further economic crises,” European Parliament President Martin Schulz said in the Reuters report.
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Cheryl Chumley is a continuous news writer for The Washington Times. Previously, she was part of the start-up team for The Washington Times’ digital aggregation product, Times247. She’s also a 2008-2009 Robert Novak journalism fellow with The Phillips Foundation. She can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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