Mr. Stefan Kuhnert:

I want to draw the committee's attention to the annexe of the communication to which Mr. Martínez referred, which I think is very useful reading. It is precisely not only about the stabilisation needs and whether the output gap is positive and at risk of overheating, but also about the consolidation need that member states have. For instance, Ireland, given its high level of public debt, has a consolidation need. If we look at the countries at which this recommendation was directed, Germany, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, they are countries that, according to the Commission's assessment, have a negative output gap at the moment and no fiscal consolidation need. We were really looking into both dimensions when we made this recommendation. Given the high level of public debt that remains, Ireland still has a consolidation need.