Barroso: EU austerity has 'reached its limits'
The European Union's focus on austerity has hit the limits of public acceptance according to the President of the European Commission. Speaking at a meeting in Brussels José Manuel Barroso joined the International Monetary Fund in raising concerns over the impact of public spending cuts.
Barroso stated that governments would be given more leeway if they were struggling to get their budget deficits within the required ceiling of 3% of GDP. He said the argument raging over the merits of austerity versus more public spending was a false debate – the answer was to combine the two, although public spending cuts alone would not provide the solution.
"Socially and politically, one policy that is only seen as austerity is, of course, not sustainable," Barroso said. "We haven't done everything right … The policy has reached its limits because it has to have a minimum of political and social support."
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