BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has sent a letter to Austria asking it to justify no structural budget consolidation in its 2015 budget draft even though European Union budget rules require a cut in the structural deficit of a minimum of 0.5 percent of GDP.
Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann, confirming receipt of the letter, told reporters on entering an EU summit that Vienna would defend its fiscal plan.
"This is a discussion process in which you defend your point of view. I have the feeling that our finance minister will do that well, me too if it's necessary. It looks as if we'll have a bit of a discussion," Faymann told reporters.
France, Italy, have also received queries from the Commission about their budget plans, because they fell short of the minimum required consolidation of 0.5 percent of GDP for the structural budget shortfall -- the measure that is independent of the rate of economic growth of the economy.
Asked if Austria would change the draft to meet EU laws, Fayman said:
"We won't be the teacher's pets who always try to do something they don't believe in. But we'll do what friendly pupils do and defend our point of view."
Austria expects its structural deficit to be 1.0 percent of GDP in 2014 and the same in 2015 because it wants to make room for investment that would boost feeble economic growth rates.
(Reporting By Jan Strupczewski and Paul Taylor in Brussels and Mike Shields in Vienna)