2026/9/4
In December 2025, Fitch Ratings warned that the outlook for public finances in Eastern European countries was deteriorating, with Poland and Romania’s budget deficits projected to exceed 6% of GDP in 2026—more than twice the EU-mandated ceiling. Three months later, the European Commission unveiled a new infrastructure fund plan aimed at providing nearly €700 billion in annual investment for the green energy transition. Together, these developments highlight a central contradiction: member states’ fiscal room is being squeezed by rigid spending, while Europe’s green goals require vast sums of money to come from somewhere.