Regarding fiscal policies, the Governing Council welcomes the fact that the Berlin Eurogroup agreement of April 2007, including the consolidation targets, was confirmed in the ECOFIN Council’s opinions on the latest stability programme updates. There is no justification for delaying structural fiscal consolidation in countries with remaining fiscal imbalances.
On the contrary, the challenges ahead call for particularly prudent and stabilityoriented fiscal policies to support private sector confidence. Achieving and maintaining sound fiscal positions will also allow the free operation of automatic stabilisers and contribute to the smooth functioning of Economic and Monetary Union.