Are More EU Nations Heading Toward Bailouts?

The European Commission warned on Wednesday that Spain and Slovenia are facing “excessive” problems balancing their economies, while France’s government also received a stern warning to get its debt under control.

In its economic health-check for 13 European Union countries, the Commission said that high domestic and external debt levels continue to pose serious risks for growth and financial stability in Spain.

The executive arm of the 27-member Union warned that Slovenia faces a “substantial” risk due to high corporate debt, bad loans and deteriorating public finances, despite healthy exports.

Both countries are suffering recession, high unemployment and ailing financial sectors.

The Commission said both countries must move swiftly to fix their ailing banking sectors, either through recapitalizing or by winding down some banks.

EU Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said the Commission was paying attention to the French economy, and two areas in particular:

“There are two main challenges for France: the deterioration of export performance, which is actually driven both by cost and non-cost factors, and the elevated level of public debt, which definitely deserves continued attention and consistent consolidation of public finances.”

The Commission noted that France’s debt is set to exceed 93 percent of its annual economic output by the end of the year.

With the French economy in recession and combating persistently high unemployment, the government in Paris is struggling to get its budget deficit under control. Experts anticipate it will miss this year’s target of 3 percent of gdp.

The EU will decide in May whether to grant France an additional year to meet the target or to launch a procedure that could lead to economic sanctions.

Bible prophecy reveals that this German-led EU will be whittled down to 10 nations. With this in mind, the Trumpet will continue to watch and report on how the global economic turmoil is reshaping the European Union.