Spain and Portugal avoid EU fines over breaching budget rules

Spain and Portugal have escaped EU fines despite repeated breaches of the bloc’s budget rules.

The move follows appeals from Madrid and Lisbon for leniency after the commission announced earlier this month that it was legally obliged to impose fines of up to 0.2% of GDP.

A majority of the EU’s 28 commissioners yesterday decided to cancel the fines, in line with EU rules, over fears it would send the wrong message to markets and an increasingly eurosceptic public.