[JURIST] The EU Commission has announced that it will pursue legal action Wednesday against Greece for disguising violations of EU budget restrictions on the country’s reported deficits from 1997 to 2003. The proceedings could result in fines imposed by the European Court of Justice if the country fails to correct the reporting problem, which Joaquin Almunia, EU monetary affairs commissioner, warned was still present. An EU report on the budget figures showed that Greece underreported its 2003 by almost 3 percent of its gross domestic product. Greece is also expected by many to exceed the EU deficit cap, set at 3 percent of a country’s gross domestic product, for 2005. Greek officials maintained that they used the correct criteria in calculating the nation’s deficit, which was one factor in its application for EU membership. The Eurostat report on the Greek deficit reporting is available here [PDF]. Read an EU href="http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/04/143
1&format=HTML&aged=0&language=en&guiLanguage=en">press release on the action. Kathimerini has http://news.ft.com/cms/s/d895a6b0-433f-11d9-bea1-00000e2511c8.html">more.