The report indicated that 12 countries – Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom – bore some potential risk related to macroeconomic imbalances and thus warranted further detailed analysis.7 According to the report, Spain, for example, will take time to correct its external and internal imbalances despite the efforts being made to rectify its imbalances owing to the sheer size of the internal and external debt.
It has also been pointed out that a fall in employment linked to downsizing in the construction sector and the economic recession has been aggravated by a sluggish adjustment of wages. At the end of May 2012, the commission confirmed that the 12 countries need to correct the large macroeconomic imbalances and that the adjustment process should be closely monitored.