BRUSSELS, May 13 (UPI) -- Sweden's prime minister says a European Commission plan to scrutinize the budgets of member states should be limited to nations with financial problems.
"That this should concern all countries is something we find a little strange," Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said of the peer-review plan.
The European Commission proposed the plan Wednesday as a way to prevent future cases of the current debt crisis threatening the European Union, the EUobserver reported Thursday.
Under the plan, countries with runaway budgets and excessive debt levels would be forced to place capital in interest-bearing deposits or face reduced payments from the EU budget. Greece's debt level was expected to rise in 2010 despite tough cuts.
"The aim should be to establish fair, timely and effective incentives for compliance with the stability and growth pact rules," the European Commission said in announcing the peer-review plan.
