Budgetary Policy Rules and Their Efficiency in Limiting Public Debt’s Proportions in EU Member States

Ensuring the soundness of public finance and, implicitly, the sustainability of public debt, represents a major concern of public authorities in every country, including at European level. The literature suggests and practice confirms the possibility of using budgetary policy rules as a tool for achieving these goals. The first part of this work is devoted to the analysis of the rationale for budgetary policy rules in European Union, mainly focusing on their action as a tool for preventing excessive public indebtedness. We then briefly present the contents of the budgetary policy rules applicable to EU Member States, both at the national and supranational level and we analyze their efficiency in limiting public debt’s proportions on the background of the recent global economic crisis, indicating some proposals for improvement.