Spain deficit challenges fiscal treaty

BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of 25 European countries on Friday signed a new treaty designed to limit government overspending, but their good intentions were immediately put to the test when Spain said it would miss deficit targets this year to spare itself from austerity overload.

By signing of the new treaty, known as the fiscal compact, the leaders hope to achieve closer political and economic integration and longer-term confidence in Europe’s finances. But the economic reality in the region — record unemployment and a slide back into recession — suggests the leaders need to reconsider their focus on austerity and seek ways to boost growth.

Hours after signing the new pact, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy admitted his government’s deficit will be 5.8 percent of economic output this year instead of the 4.4 percent earlier promised to the EU.

The EU’s executive, the European Commission, will be forced to either back off its demands for deficit cuts or sanction Madrid.

The clash illustrates the bind Europe’s leaders are in — having to reduce the debts that created the crisis in the first place while at the same time needing to foster economic growth, without which debt reduction measures will be futile.

“I did not consult other European leaders and I will inform the Commission in April,” Rajoy said. “This is a sovereign decision by Spain.”