THE European Commission approved a budget from Portugal’s left-wing anti-austerity government yesterday after imposing about €845 million (£650m) in cuts.

In the latest EU assault on democracy, the commission forced Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s coalition of socialists, communists and greens to agree to bring its budget deficit down to 3.4 per cent of GDP, close to the EU limit on deficits of 3 per cent.

Even with that concession, EU commissioner Pierre Moscovici said the “government’s plans are at risk of non-compliance” with EU rules to keep deficits down and would need strict monitoring.