Pierre Moscovici’s period of reflection may now be complete as today he chummed up to Portugal’s Finance Minister, Mario Centeno, to atone for his ‘Plan B’ remarks earlier in the week.
As if there had been no row at all over Moscovici’s statement that Portugal will have to impose additional financial controls to keep the country on track, the so called raft of ‘Plan B’ tax rises and spending cuts in addition to those in the 2016 State Budget, he was pictured today in Lisbon, all smiles and congratulations.
The official reason for the Lisbon meeting between Finance Minister, Mario Centeno, and Pierre Moscovici, was to discuss the State Budget in more detail, with Moscovici adding that the Plan B proposals were "not even mentioned."
The European Commission "does not want to interfere politically," according to Moscovici, the European Commissioner for Economic Affairs, who added that the Commission wants only to be a "supportive partner" for Portugal, a country that "has come a long way" in the past four years.
At the press conference in Lisbon today, standing next to Mario Centeno, the smiling Eurocrat said that the European Commission will "give advice when needed."
Moscovici said that Plan B was not discussed. "We did not discuss any other measures, for the simple reason that we are discussing the budget for approval in parliament," said Moscovici whose tune has changed rather.
As for the European Commission offering friendly advice, nothing could be further from reality as Portugal’s 2016 State Budget was kicked around and beaten until it formed an approximation to the shape Brussels required. Even then it was approved only grudgingly with a health warning attached that Portugal is likely to default - hardly avuncular advice.
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And so easily seen through today following the ECB Draghi comments, the core message fed back by the money markets is that the 'structural improvements' in the struggling peripheral countries must continue and go deeper. Italy's GDP overspend leads at 131% but Portugal is hot on its heels at 129%. Not at all healthy with only around 0.3% growth. Ireland though steaming forward with over 7% growth.