Dr. Robert Sweeney:

On the issue of certain member states that have run afoul of the rules having been essentially required to reduce their public investment, that was the case, especially with the southern European countries, including Spain, Greece, Italy and so on. Their public investment since the crisis still has not recovered even though it took place almost a decade ago. In the report, we also found that many of the countries running afoul of the fiscal rules are also those with the biggest investment need for their infrastructure in order to adapt to climate change. On whether there has been a discussion on that and if it will just be quantitative, one of the issues is we do not know. It will be based on negotiation between the Commission and the particular member state. It is not clear whether that will be taken into account. Presumably, it would be taken into account that these countries, whether it is Spain or southern European countries, have very significant infrastructural challenges in meeting their climate targets. Presumably, it would be taken into account but it is not clear at this stage.