Updated Wednesday 6.30 am

The government said in a statement last night that it had 'no indication' that the European Commission considered Malta's budget plans as being at risk of breaching EU budget rules.

The Financial Times had reported that  five eurozone countries - France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Malta, would be told by the European Commission today that their budget plans risk breaching EU budget rules. It quoted three EU officials briefed on the decision.

Yesterday, Reuters said that according to European Union sources, Italy's budget plans risked rejection although the issue has been complicated by the impending handover to a new European Commission on November 1, since incoming Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is widely expected to adopt a more compromising line than his predecessor Jose Manuel Barroso.

In its statement, the Maltese government said the European Commission had until today to make clarifications on national budgets, and a decision would be taken at the end of the month.

The government was confident that the process in Malta's case would be concluded positively. 

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