The paper by Christian Kastrop describes the German federal system with a view to drawing some lessons for the European Union. The German system is reckoned to be very good at promoting cooperation and integration, but it has been showing growing problems in terms of efficiency and transparency....

Höppner and Kastrop examine the role of fiscal institutions and budgetary procedures in Germany with respect to the objective of safeguarding sound public finances in the long-run. The paper analyses the main factors underlying debt developments in Germany in recent decades. It also examines...

Höppner and Kastrop discuss the issue of quality in public expenditure in the framework of the Stability and Growth Pact. Their starting point is the reform of the Pact that has taken place in 2005. They summarise the main problems that led to the reform and argue that fiscal rules based only...