The European Commission on Tuesday set a deadline by which five EU member states must correct their excessive budget deficits.
The EU executive said that Greece must correct its budget shortfall by 2010, France and Spain by 2012, Ireland by 2013 and the UK by 2013-14.
Under EU rules – the Stability and Growth Pact - member states should keep their budget deficits below three percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
But several countries have gone beyond this limit, notably ...
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