This will be important for what is called the “European semester” – the new annual review of members’ budgets BEFORE their adoption nationally. The package will also make the sanctions enforcing the Stability and Growth Pact more automatic, by the socalled reverse voting mechanism. Both the preventive and the corrective arms of the Stability and Growth Pact will be made stricter.
In that regard, the Federal Reserve has proposed new rules to strengthen regulatory oversight and to protect consumers in the future, and we continue to assess this episode to determine what more can be done to help homebuyers and homeowners. Of course, one of the most effective ways to help consumers is to empower them with information.