Download or read book Stability and Growth in Europe written by Antonio Fatás and published by Centre for Economic Policy Research. This book was released on 2003 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fiscal policy framework of the EMU is in a states of crisis. Since the start of EMU, fiscal conditions in some member states have slipped considerably beyond the limits set by the Maastricht Treaty and the Stability and Growth Pact. It is clear that the preventive arm of the Stability and Growth Pact has failed to preclude excessive deficits. There is no shortage of proposals to reform the current fiscal framework in this crisis situation. They range from calls for softening their implementation, and to proposals for closer coordination of national fiscal policies. None of these proposals offers a convincing solution to the problem at the heart of the current crisis: how to balance the need for effective long-run fiscal stability in EMU with the need for short-run flexibility of fiscal policy in the member states. After a detailed analysis of the virtues and defects of the current fiscal framework, this report presents a proposal for reform that addresses this issue. The authors argue that EMU should move away from rigid fiscal rules for annual deficits towards a more judgmental process of monitoring the sustainability of fiscal policies. This approach is guided by three principles: independence, transparency, and legitimacy. Together wit the ability to assess the fiscal situation and outlook of each euro-area member state, they are the keys to designing a framework that provides enough flexibility and, at the same time, can build the required credibility and political support. The authors propose the creation of a Sustainability Council for the EMU, and independent body with the sole statutory task of safeguarding the sustainability of public finances in the euro area. The Sustainability Council regularly and openly reports to the public and the European Parliament its assessment of the member states' fiscal policies, taking into account past performance, current perspectives and the future course of fiscal policies. Its mandate is the counterpart of the ECB's principal task of maintaining price stability. However, the Sustainability Council has no operative role in fiscal policy; it relies solely on the pressure of informed public opinion to discipline national governments. The use of the instruments of fiscal policy is entirely left to the national governments, and the Sustainability Council can only be conceived as a judge of national public finances.

Download or read book Reforming the Stability and Growth Pact written by Mr.Michael Deppler and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2005-02-01 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A rules-based fiscal framework, such as the EU’s Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), can be an important bulwark against short-sighted policies. Although policies have improved following the SGP’s adoption, shortcomings remain. These, however, are rooted in the policies rather than the rules, where few changes seem necessary. Specifically, the Excessive Deficit Procedure needs a stronger focus on policies rather than outcomes, while staying operationally simple and transparent. Furthermore, reforms are needed to foster time-consistent national policies, budgetary transparency, and ownership of the Pact. Accordingly, parliaments should debate national Stability Programs and national fiscal councils should review these programs for parliaments.

Download or read book European Fiscal Policies Under the Stability Pact written by Harmen Lehment and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Between Growth and Stability written by Leila Simona Talani and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 213 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Very comprehensive and based on a detailed economic and political analysis, Between Growth and Stability is clearly a vital book for both students and seasoned economists. . . Thomas Bauwens, Bibliothèque Européenne Combining economic and political science perspectives, this timely and important book describes and analyses the circumstances and events leading to the demise and subsequent reform of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). Between Growth and Stability aims to find a solution to the dilemmas posed by fiscal policy coordination in the context of a single currency area, as well as contrasting the alternative heuristic frameworks and theoretical perspectives employed. It focuses particularly on the question of credibility, its definition and its meaning in the day-to-day workings of economic and monetary union. The book examines the actual performance of the SGP and proposes ways in which the integrity of European fiscal rule making might be improved in the future. This book will be essential reading for policymakers, politicians, members of European institutions and international organizations. The in-depth analysis will also be invaluable to scholars of international relations and economics, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate students in international relations, political science and economics.

Download or read book The Stability and Growth Pact written by A. Brunila and published by Springer. This book was released on 2001-09-20 with total page 446 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) encompasses the legislative text and political resolutions regulating fiscal policy and public finances in EMU. The contributions in this volume analyse the institutional, legal, theoretical and empirical aspects of the SGP, examine its development and evaluate its main implications. The authors include academic economists, who provide insightful analysis, and policy makers who have contributed to the shaping of the pact and have a direct responsibility for its implementation. This book is the definitive source of reference on the SGP for academics, policy makes and economists.

Download or read book Ruling Europe written by Martin Heipertz and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-03-18 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) is central to Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in Europe. Initiated by Germany in 1995 and adopted in 1997, it regulates the fiscal policies of European Union Member States. Following numerous violations of its deficit reference value, the Pact's Excessive Deficit Procedure was suspended in 2003. The decision to suspend was brought before the European Court of Justice in 2004 and the SGP then underwent painstaking reform in 2005. After a period of economic prosperity and falling budgetary deficits, the global economic crisis put the system under renewed stress. Ruling Europe presents a comprehensive analysis of the political history of the SGP as the cornerstone of EMU. It examines the SGP through different theoretical lenses, offering a fascinating study of European integration and institutional design. One cannot understand the Euro without first understanding the SGP.

Download or read book Fiscal Policy Making in the European Union written by Martin Larch and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-12-16 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines key aspects of the measurement of fiscal policy making in the EU fiscal surveillance framework, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of current assessment practice. Based on the proceedings of a workshop organized by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Economic and Financial Affairs, the book’s contributions from leading experts will be of particular value to individuals and institutions involved in the fields of national and international economics and finance. Key Features: chapters are arranged within three main sections: Long-term sustainability; Measurement of the underlying budgetary position and discretionary fiscal policy; Reliability of fiscal indicators edited by Martin Larch and João Nogueira Martins expert contributors include António Afonso, Fabrizio Balassone, Fernando Ballabriga, Roy Barrell, Peter Brandner, Peter Claeys, Leopold Diebalek, Per Eckefeldt, Jonas Fischer, Daniele Franco, Jagadeesh Gokhale, Ian Hurst, Walpurga Köhler-Töglhofer, György Kopits, Martin Larch, Carlos Martinez-Mongay, James Mitchell, João Nogueira Martins, Jan in ’t Veld, Stefania Zotteri text amply supported by charts and tables. bibliography and Index

Download or read book Fiscal Policy in the European Union written by J. Ferreiro and published by Springer. This book was released on 2008-11-27 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive analysis of national fiscal policies in the European Union and in the European Monetary Union. Adopting a critical perspective, the book offers a deep insight into the consequences of the current strategy of national fiscal policies on economic activity.

Download or read book Macroeconomic Policy in the European Monetary Union written by Francesco Farina and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-11-08 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing readers with a multi-faceted assessment of the implementation of fiscal policies in the euro zone and their macroeconomic effects five years after the inception of the euro, this book, international in perspective and scope, is the first reliable reference source for discussions in this area for both academics and policy makers.Comprising

Download or read book The nine lives of the stability pact written by Daniel Gros and published by CEPS. This book was released on 2004 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This special report by the CEPS Macroeconomic Policy Group (MPG) is concerned with the implementation of the prohibition of excessive deficits contained in the Treaty of Maastricht via the Stability and Growth Pact. Specifically, it deals with the controversy that was provoked by the failure of the ECOFIN Council of 25 November 2003, to endorse recommendations of the European Commission to put France and Germany on notice that they had violated the Treatys prohibition of excessive deficits"--CEPS website.

Download or read book Thou Shalt Not Breach The Impact on Sovereign Spreads of Noncomplying with the EU Fiscal Rules written by Federico Diaz Kalan and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2018-04-12 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There is evidence that fiscal rules, in particular well-designed rules, are associated with lower sovereign spreads. However, the impact of noncompliance with fiscal rules on spreads has not been examined in the literature. This paper estimates the effect of the Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) on sovereign spreads of European Union member states. Based on a sample including the 28 European Union countries over the period 1999 to 2016, sovereign spreads of countries placed under an EDP are found to be on average higher compared to countries that are not under an EDP. The interpretation of this result is not straight-forward as different channels may be at play, in particular those related with the credibility and the design of the EU fiscal framework. The specification accounts for typical macroeconomic, fiscal, and financial determinants of sovereign spreads, the System Generalized Method of Moments estimator is used to control for endogeneity, and results are robust to a range of checks on variables and estimators.

Download or read book Reconciling Stability and Growth written by Mr.Roel M. W. J. Beetsma and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2003-09-01 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper analyzes the decision of a government facing electoral uncertainty to implement structural reforms in the presence of fiscal restraints similar to the Stability and Growth Pact. The model shows that a pact may harm structural reforms, sacrificing future growth for present stability. The welfare gains brought about by a pact depend on a trade-off between the reduction in the deficit bias and the induced reduction in the amount of structural reform. A pact becomes more attractive (“smarter”) if it takes into account the fiscal impact of structural reforms, in line with a recent proposal by the European Commission.

Download or read book Enforcement and the Stability and Growth Pact How Fiscal Policy Did and Did Not Change Under Europe s Fiscal Framework written by Anthony Annett and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2006-05 with total page 38 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Stability and Growth Pact has been a success in numerous EU countries, especially in guiding them toward underlying fiscal balance ahead of population aging. These countries tend to be smaller, subject to greater macroeconomic volatility, and reliant on a form of fiscal governance that emphasizes targets and contracts. Most of the new members share these characteristics. For the countries less compatible with the Pact, domestic governance reforms that increase the reputational costs for noncompliance can be useful complements to the fiscal framework.

Download or read book How to deal with the Stability and Growth Pact A critical disquisition on the stability tool of the EMU written by David Liebl and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2005-07-07 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - Topic: European Union, grade: A, University of Copenhagen (Departement of Political Science Copenhagen), course: Financial Globalization, language: English, abstract: Within the field of International Political Economy the case of monetary unions has become a big issue. Especially the establishment of the EMU has led to numerous academic publications. An intense political but also scientific discussion arose about the Stability and Growth Pact of the European Monetary Union. In March 2005 the ministers of finance and economics of the European Union decided to form the Stability and Growth Pact in a more flexible way. In the future countries that are above the 3 % limit should be judged as individual cases. In the academic discussion few economists already claim this, to be the pacts death. The paper starts by providing some basic facts about the terms of the pact and it’s application during the last years. Chapter 4 provides a short overview about the theoretical background to the field, which can be simplified as Monetarism vs. Keynesian Economics. The main research question is, how we should deal with the pact. Should it be kept like it is today? Or are there good options to change the pact? In chapter 5 I will point out the most important arguments for keeping the pact and for changing it. Chapter 6 finally goes into the latest academic discussion about a reform of the pact and presents different approaches in doing so.

Download or read book Designing a European Fiscal Union written by Mr.Carlo Cottarelli and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does the European Union need closer fiscal integration, and in particular a stronger fiscal centre, to become more resilient to economic shocks? This book looks at the experience of 13 federal states to help inform the heated debate on this issue. It analyses in detail their practices in devolving responsibilities from the subnational to the central level, compares them to those of the European Union, and draws lessons for a possible future fiscal union in Europe. More specifically, this book tries to answer three sets of questions: What is the role of centralized fiscal policies in federations, and hence the size, features and functions of the central budget? What institutional arrangements are used to coordinate fiscal policy between the federal and subnational levels? What are the links between federal and subnational debt, and how have subnational financing crises been handled, when they occurred? These policy questions are critical in many federations, and central to the current discussions about future paths for the European Union. This book brings to the table new, practical insights through a systematic and comprehensive comparison of the EU fiscal framework with that of federal states. It also departs from the decentralization perspective that has been prominent in the literature by focusing on the role of the centre (which responsibilities are centralized at the federal level and how they are handled, rather than which functions belong to the local level). Such an approach is particularly relevant for the European Union, where a fiscal union would imply granting new powers to the centre.

Download or read book The Euro and the Stability Pact written by Martin S. Feldstein and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This paper begins by discussing the inherent conflict between the simultaneous existence of a single currency for the countries of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the independent fiscal policies of those countries. The Stability and Growth Pact was an attempt to reconcile that conflict. I describe how EMU governments have chosen to ignore the Stability Pact's constraint on budget deficits and how they sought to undermine it by changing the rules themselves. The final part of the paper describes the actual resolution of the issue by the agreement reached at the end of March 2005 by the European Council. The new policy effectively abandons the Stability Pact and leaves the way open to much larger sustained deficits"--NBER website

Download or read book Fiscal Federalism in the European Union and Its Countries written by Clément Vaneecloo and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2006 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book tackles a key issue for the European Union: Fiscal Federalism. It evaluates the applicability of this theoretical perspective for the EU. Conversely, it pinpoints ways in which the diversity of existing fiscal settings and organisations, both at national and European levels, can throw light on the theory. The study analyses two of the most important European policies: Cohesion Policy and the Stability and Growth Pact. It compares the episode of German Unification to the 2004 European Enlargement. It pioneers a cross-country analysis of the various national fiscal settings. Finally, it highlights the close links between the dynamics of decision-making related to the main budgetary choices and the integration process. The questions raised are crucial in the current context of economic and institutional uncertainty: How should we apprehend the Cohesion Policy, the main expression of European solidarity? How can the coordination of national fiscal policies be improved? How are European countries and their regions organised in fiscal and budgetary terms? What lessons can the EU draw from its own fiscal past and from that of its Member States? Over and above the originality of the answers provided by the authors, the book suggests that it would be difficult to take the integration process further without first clarifying what Europe can, should or wants to do.