debt at a "prudent level". This is currently set at below 40% of GDP in each year of the current cycle. Between 2009 and 2021, the Golden Rule was abandoned but after the October 2021 budget speech by Rishi Sunak the Golden Rule was restored. The Golden Rule in France In France, the lower house of parliament voted in favour of reforming articles 32, 39 and 42 of the French constitution on 12 July 2011. In order to come into force the amendments need to be passed by a 3/5 majority of the combined upper and lower houses (Congress). The Golden Rule in Germany In 2009 articles 109, 115 and 143 of Germany's constitution were amended to introduce the Schuldenbremse ("debt brake"), a balanced budget provision. The reform will come into effect in 2016 for the state and 2020 for the regions. The Golden Rule in Spain On 7 September 2011, the Spanish Senate approved an amendment to article 135 of the Spanish constitution introducing a cap on the structural deficit of the state (national, regional and municipal). The amendment will come into force from 2020. The Golden Rule in Italy On 7 September 2011, the Italian Lower House approved a constitutional reform introducing a balanced budget obligation to Article 81 of the Italian constitution. The rule will come into effect in 2014. That reform is rooted in the European Stability and Growth Pact and in the s.c. fiscal compact. It has led to the abandonment of the ideological neutrality that characterized the Italian fiscal constitution in favor of a clearly neoclassical inspiration. See also Balanced Budget Amendment References Further reading Fiscal Policy in the UK (HM Treasury) HM Treasury. Reforming Britain's economic and financial policy: towards greater economic stability. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001. . Fiscal policy fr:Règle d'or budgétaire