ELDR Focus Year

Greece’s budget shortfall is now estimated at 12.7% of GDP last year, after Eurostat recently accused Athens of "deliberate misreporting" making its deficit appear smaller. The country nowadays is rated with BBB+, an alarming low rating for a Eurozone member state. Such an excessive deficit and rapidly rising debt could have spill-over effects for the whole euro zone.

Aloys Rigaut, LYMEC President, commented: 'Greece wrote the tragedy in which it is now and will need to get out of it by its own means. There is no way that we can mutualise at Eurozone level the price of the public finances repair. It would set a bad precedent for other Euro countries”.

From 1st of January 2010, Spain takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU. After the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the Council of ministers now has a permanent President, Herman van Rompuy, so he will chair the meetings of the Council. The Spanish Presidency however still will have an important role. More importantly, Spain will as well be the country setting the tone of how the rotating presidency will work under the Lisbon Treaty.

The Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero outlined that he wants to work for a more united and stronger Europe. The European Liberal Youth (LYMEC) welcomes this goal of the Spanish Presidency and hopes that it will be able to set a strong European agenda.

Aloys Rigaut, President of LYMEC states: “The Spanish Presidency will have to face a lot of political challenges. The top priority must be to address the economic crisis including addressing the issue of youth unemployment. However, this very first country Presidency after the coming in effect of the Lisbon Treaty also will define how the distribution of tasks between it and the permanent President will look like in the future. We therefore call on Spain to make sure the Lisbon treaty is followed by its spirit rather than only by its words. It remains to be seen who takes over from the Swedish Presidency – Spain or President van Rompuy?”