№253. Spanish Constitutional Reform
№253. Spanish Constitutional Reform

What is seen and not seen

Author(s): José M. Abad, Javier Hernández Galante
Subject(s): National Economy, Constitutional Law, Economic policy, Government/Political systems, Law on Economics, EU-Accession / EU-DEvelopment
Published by: CEPS Centre for European Policy Studies
Keywords: Spanish Constitutional Reform; debt limit; interest and principal payments;
Summary/Abstract: On September 7th, five weeks after the European Central Bank (ECB) started buying Spanish bonds as part of its Securities Market Programme, and four weeks since Merkel and Sarkozy announced their proposal of writing debt limits into national laws, the Spanish Parliament has approved a constitutional reform that, by constraining the general government’s spending and borrowing capacity, aims to mitigate concerns over public finances. This reform, the second since the current Constitution was enacted by referendum in 1978, has been made possible by an agreement between the ruling socialists (PSOE) and the main opposition party (conservative PP).

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