I don't think we are, there are budget rules at Europe level to keep the annual deficit under a certain threshold (which is not enough in itself if you want to

I don't think we are, there are budget rules at Europe level to keep the annual deficit under a certain threshold (which is not enough in itself if you want to reduce the debt level), and after 2008 Greece and Portugal were under heavy constraint to reduce their debt level. I think there was a kind of pause during COVID where it was pretty must admitted that no one was going to keep a tight budget, but I would say it is back in the news now that COVID seems to be behind us. What is different maybe it is generally not used as blackmail to gain points against the other team.