On 22 June, EU finance ministers agreed to close the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) for France, confirming that its deficit has dropped below the EU's 3% of GDP reference value. As a result, 23 of the 24 procedures that were open at the height of the euro crisis have now been closed. The Council also issued recommendations to Hungary and Romania, calling on them to correct significant deviations from their medium-term budgetary objectives, and finding that Romania has so far failed to take effective action. Ministers also reached agreement on measures to strengthen administrative cooperation in order to improve the prevention of cross-border VAT fraud. A new directive adopted by the Council will make the 15% minimum standard VAT rate a permanent feature of the VAT system. The Council also approved an agreement aimed at boosting VAT cooperation with Norway.