Europe Close to Creating “Budget Tsar”

With European countries struggling to get a control on debt, the European Commission is taking steps to appoint one person responsible for scrutinizing finances. Rival commissioners could not over-ride disciplinary measures imposed by the commissioner for economics and monetary affairs on nations that overspend. “Commission officials argue that the new changes are necessary to prevent national governments from exerting pressure on their commissioners, who are supposed to defend the European interest as opposed to the national one,” writes Joshua Chaffin for the Financial Times. He adds that some nations are concerned about more centralized control from Brussels. States with stronger economies expect rigid controls and want to dictate conditions for Greece and other indebted nations in need of bailouts. Under the plan, national governments are expected to submit their spending plans to Brussels for review. – YaleGlobal