Brussels approves Dutch 2015 spending plans, urges rigorous implementation

Brussels has approved the Netherlands’ spending plans for 2015 and called on the government to implement them ‘rigorously’.

The Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg and Slovakia are all ‘compliant with the pact’, the European Commission said in a statement on Friday.

Estonia, Latvia, Slovenia and Finland are broadly compliant while seven countries (Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Malta, Austria and Portugal) risk non-compliance, the Commission said.

The Netherlands was not included in the top group last year because of concerns about efforts to cut the budget deficit. This year, the Commission called on the Netherlands to ‘rigorously implement’ its 2015 budget and to make further progress on tax reform.