Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/275690 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Citation: 
[Journal:] Intereconomics [ISSN:] 1613-964X [Volume:] 58 [Issue:] 1 [Year:] 2023 [Pages:] 32-42
Publisher: 
Sciendo, Warsaw
Abstract: 
EU fiscal rules are meant to keep public finances on a sustainable path. This paper presents a new database that tracks numerical compliance with the four main rules of the Stability and Growth Pact starting in 1998. Our assessment of numerical compliance abstracts from the many exceptions and elements of discretion allowed by the letter and the spirit of EU law. It focuses on the main course of action implied by the rules. Overall, our database points to a very mixed compliance record. On average - across countries, years and rules - budgetary policies of the EU member states are compliant in just over half of the cases with stark and persistent differences across countries. We also detect a distinct cyclical pattern of compliance, which sends false signals of safety in good times.
Subjects: 
European fiscal policy
public debt
budget planning
EU countries
JEL: 
C10
E61
E62
H30
H62
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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