Finland placed under the Excessive Deficit Procedure

Brussels – Finland is officially under an excessive deficit procedure. The Ecofin Council has formalised the expected decision to place the Scandinavian country under surveillance due to its public finances. Specifically, the Helsinki government is paying for exceeding and deviating from the 3 per cent threshold in the deficit-to-GDP ratio, which reached 4.5 per cent in 2025 and is forecast to be 4 per cent and 3.9 per cent in 2026 and 2027, respectively. The country will now have to report every six months on the measures taken to correct the imbalances.

After Austria and the Netherlands, therefore, another EU Member State considered a staunch defender of strict budgetary rules ends up suffering the rigour it professes to uphold. Finnish Finance Minister Riikka Purra accepts the decision without drama and even describes the opening of the procedure as “good for the credibility of the common budgetary rules”. “Despite a difficult economic environment, we remain committed to sustainable public finances,” she assures.