by Matthew Holehouse, Brussels
Telegraph.co.uk
Spain and Portugal escaped fines over their failure to meet deficit targets, as the European Commission announced it would delay a decision to impose sanctions until after the Spanish elections.
Inflicting penalties would have been an unprecedented step for the Commission, which won new powers to monitor national budgets during the Eurozone debt crisis.
Such a move would risk boosting the anti-austerity Podemos party in elections held on June 26. The Commission said it “will come back to the situation of these two member states in early July.”