ECFIN/441/00-EN

In 2001, the Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs will launch its pre-accession fiscal surveillance mechanism for the candidate countries. This new initiative will comprise of two parts; an annual debt and deficit notification, and the preparation by the candidate countries of a Pre-accession Economic Programme (PEPs).

The PEPs will give special emphasis to public finance issues. Therefore, as part of the Directorate-General's preparations for the introduction of its pre-accession fiscal surveillance mechanism, this paper provides a preliminary assessment on the quality of fiscal data, recent fiscal developments, and progress towards fiscal reform for each of the candidate countries.