Constitutional Amendment to be Debated in Parliament on Friday

 

A meeting of the Spanish Parliament today approved the proposal to make new budgetary controls part of the constitution in a bid to restore confidence in the country's ailing economy.

An agreement between the ruling PSOE Socialists and the opposition Partido Popular to support the Prime Ministers constitutional amendment saw 318 of parliament's 350 members voting in favour of debating the subject.

The agreed debate has been scheduled to take place in parliament on Friday of this weekend and will result in a vote being taken. The proposal will then move on to the Spanish senate. Approval from three fifths of the members of both houses is necessary to bring the amendments into force.

The amendment to the constitution would commit all levels of Spanish government to sharing responsibility for complying with EU budgetary requirements, and follow up legislation will set maximum budget-deficit levels and establish penalties for failure to comply.

An amendment to the constitution has only ever happened once before since the country returned to democracy in 1978.

Yesterday Moody's credit ratings agency welcomed the proposed amendment and conceded how it may have a positive affect on the country's credit rating, which is currently under review of a possible downgrade.