In 2012, 22 EU countries signed the Fiscal Compact, an intergovernmental agreement aimed at backing EU fiscal rules with national arrangements. The main objective of the Compact was to strengthen compliance. Based on a survey of national independent fiscal institutions, we take a closer look at...

In 2012, 22 EU countries signed the Fiscal Compact, an intergovernmental agreement aimed at backing EU fiscal rules with national arrangements. The main objective of the Compact was to strengthen compliance. Based on a survey of national independent fiscal institutions, we take a closer look at...

We study the one-year-ahead budgetary projections from the Stability and Convergence Programmes of EU Member States since the start of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) until the start of the coronavirus crisis. We consider first budget-balance errors, which we then split into expenditure...

The dominance of electoral considerations in determining budgetary outcomes has been evident in Hungary over the last 15 years, with government deficits reaching their highest levels in election years (1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006). This deterioration of public finances has largely been possible...

National fiscal frameworks (NFFs) represent a set of domestic arrangements to enhance the predictability and transparency of public finances. This chapter looks into a specific aspect of institutional convergence: the development of NFFs in the EU-11 countries following their EU accession. The...