On 23 October, the Commission issued a negative opinion on the Draft Budgetary Plan.
As well as noting the failure to comply with the rules of the Pact for 2019, the Commission expressed the opinion that some of the prospective measures (notably the tax amnesty and the change in pension requirements) could represent a step backwards with respect to past reforms and that, should the downside risks for economic performance projected by the Parliamentary Budget Office materialise, the deterioration in the public finances in 2019 would be greater than forecast by the Government.