The European Commission has criticised Portugal, France and Italy for violating EU rules on public spending.
In its statement, the commission, the EU's executive arm, pointed out France's "large public debt coupled with deteriorated productivity growth".
It singled out Italy's "high government debt" along with a worrying level of long-term unemployment that "weighs on growth prospects".
In total, these three countries along with Bulgaria and Croatia were slated for having “excessive imbalances” in public spending.
All have been obliged to improve or face the unprecedented step of punitive action known as the “corrective arm” which could include penalties.
"Countries in excessive imbalances can be put in corrective arm at any moment," Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis warned at a news briefing in Strasbourg, France.
But cautious savers were also under the microscope. Germany’s “excess savings and subdued investment” was also in violation of EU regulations, albeit at a lesser degree.
EU rules limit public deficits to 3% of an economy's total annual output.
