Which european countries have received bailouts

Earlier this month, Belgium became the fourth European Union country to introduce legislation that prevents pandemic relief measures to companies with a presence in tax havens. The law, which was adopted on May 7, stipulates that any business with a link to tax havens via a shareholder or subsidiary won't be able to receive state-aid. Poland, France and Denmark had all proposed similar amendments to deny relief funding to firms operating in jurisdictions the EU considers uncooperative for tax purposes.

The EU's so-called "blacklist" identifies 12 countries that have failed to meet the bloc's standard on the open and fluid exchange of tax information. None of the countries on the list are members of the EU, since the bloc claims all member states are fully compliant and held to a higher level of scrutiny than other countries across the globe. A spokesperson from the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, told CNBC that it was up to member states if they wished to grant state aid and to design measures in line with EU rules, "such as to prevent fraud and tax evasion or aggressive avoidance.

At the same time, the spokesperson said member states "must comply" with fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the EU Treaty, including on the free movement of capital and the free movement of persons. Create a personalised ads profile. Select personalised ads. Apply market research to generate audience insights. Measure content performance.

Develop and improve products. List of Partners vendors. The European sovereign debt crisis was a period when several European countries experienced the collapse of financial institutions, high government debt, and rapidly rising bond yield spreads in government securities. The debt crisis began in with the collapse of Iceland's banking system, then spread primarily to Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain in , leading to the popularization of a somewhat offensive moniker PIIGS.

It has led to a loss of confidence in European businesses and economies. The crisis was eventually controlled by the financial guarantees of European countries, who feared the collapse of the euro and financial contagion, and by the International Monetary Fund IMF.

Rating agencies downgraded several Eurozone countries' debts. Greece's debt was, at one point, moved to junk status. Countries receiving bailout funds were required to meet austerity measures designed to slow down the growth of public-sector debt as part of the loan agreements.

Some of the contributing causes included the financial crisis of to , the Great Recession of to , the real estate market crisis, and property bubbles in several countries. By the end of , the peripheral Eurozone member states of Greece, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus were unable to repay or refinance their government debt or bail out their beleaguered banks without the assistance of third-party financial institutions.

Also in , Greece revealed that its previous government had grossly underreported its budget deficit, signifying a violation of EU policy and spurring fears of a euro collapse via political and financial contagion. Seventeen Eurozone countries voted to create the EFSF in , specifically to address and assist with the crisis.

The European sovereign debt crisis peaked between and With increasing fear of excessive sovereign debt , lenders demanded higher interest rates from Eurozone states in , with high debt and deficit levels making it harder for these countries to finance their budget deficits when they were faced with overall low economic growth. Some affected countries raised taxes and slashed expenditures to combat the crisis, which contributed to social upset within their borders and a crisis of confidence in leadership, particularly in Greece.

Several of these countries, including Greece, Portugal, and Ireland had their sovereign debt downgraded to junk status by international credit rating agencies during this crisis, worsening investor fears. A report for the United States Congress stated the following:. In early , the developments were reflected in rising spreads on sovereign bond yields between the affected peripheral member states of Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and most notably, Germany.

The Greek yield diverged with Greece needing Eurozone assistance by May Greece received several bailouts from the EU and IMF over the following years in exchange for the adoption of EU-mandated austerity measures to cut public spending and a significant increase in taxes. The country's economic recession continued. These measures, along with the economic situation, caused social unrest. With divided political and fiscal leadership, Greece faced sovereign default in June The Greek citizens voted against a bailout and further EU austerity measures the following month.

The withdrawal of a nation from the EMU would have been unprecedented, and if Greece had returned to using the Drachma, the speculated effects on its economy ranged from total economic collapse to a surprise recovery. In the end, Greece remained part of the EMU and began to slowly show signs of recovery in subsequent years. This vote fueled Eurosceptics across the continent, and speculation soared that other countries would leave the EU.

Ever since the EU crisis of , when it became clear that Greece, Ireland and Portugal could not cope with their spiralling debts and Spain and Italy were clearly struggling with rising interest payments, there have been calls for the EU to raise funds on behalf of all member states, and especially those inside the eurozone.

These so-called euro bonds would in effect put the Dutch on the hook for Italian debt payments, and see the Finns covering shortfalls run up by the Greeks. When the Covid pandemic hit, calls for such moves intensified. What this means is that private investors will track the loans as if they are bonds, and the interest rate applied to them, as if they are a collective entity.

It is the sort of sleight of hand the EU is famous for — though some also decry its lack of transparency. Yet the measures do almost add up to EU-wide bonds. The richer countries that were most resistant to any deal — the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden and Denmark — wanted a veto over the management of the debt, but have acceded to majority voting.

Now the EU must put some flesh on the bones of the deal. And they will need to make a better job than Boris Johnson did in his trip to Scotland last week of promoting a union of nations and the benefits of pooling resources in an increasingly uncertain world. The TV industry has faced the prospect of the ban several times and managed to steer a path to less draconian restrictions.