General Government Debt and Budget Deficit as Threats to Economic Security of the European Union Countries

Abstract The aim of the article is to present budget deficit and government debt in the European Union member states, with particular consideration of the countries that belong to the PIIGS group. This paper has focused on the scale of these phenomena, on their reasons and on some attempts made to improve the unfavourable situation. In the main thesis presented in the article, it is stated that budget deficit and general government debt come as significant threats to economic security of the European Union (EU) countries. The research methods that have been applied in the study involve descriptive analysis and statistical data analysis.