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Spanish politicians took a dramatic step to try to win back market confidence by agreeing on a reform of the country's constitution to introduce a cap on future deficits. The socialist party (PSOE) of outgoing prime minister José Luis Zapatero and the conservative opposition People's party (PP) said the cap would come into effect in 2020. The limit will be set at 0.4% and will effect all levels of Spain's highly devolved administration, including the regional governments that run health and education. The move came at the end of a month that has seen Spain's sovereign debt under severe pressure in the markets, amid fears that it might need a bailout similar to those of fellow eurozone nations Portugal, Greece or Ireland. It also came a week after Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy called for eurozone countries to establish legal limits on their deficits to integrate their economies. So far only Germany has such a cap. Spanish politicians claimed the measure was a step towards eurozone integration. "August has been a month of financial instability. Investors have lost confidence in the eurozone," said Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the PSOE candidate for prime minister in November's general election. "We have to win back confidence and show we are solvent." The PP, led by Mariano Rajoy, had been demanding such a measure for years. "We want to be amongst the countries in the vanguard of European economic policy," said spokeswoman Soraya Saénz de Santamaría.