EU to keep budget rules looser for longer amid war fallout

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union is extending looser limits on spending by member countries for an extra year in a bid to counter the economic fallout from Russia’s war in Ukraine. The European Commission recommended Monday that the EU’s regular rules on national budget discipline be suspended through 2023. The 27-nation bloc’s executive arm says member countries need the longer fiscal flexibility to tackle heightened economic risks due to the Ukraine war. The EU deactivated its full controls on national debt levels in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the laxer framework was ending this year. Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni says the EU is still “far from economic normality.”