27/11/2012 : Fiscal relations across government levels in times of crisis - making compatible fiscal decentralisation and budgetary discipline

In the context of the current economic and budgetary crisis and based on the existing EU country specific policy experiences, the workshop will focus on the appropriate functioning of fiscal relations across government levels in order to render compatible the ongoing process of fiscal decentralisation in a large number of Member States with the required fiscal retrenchment so as to comply with the new EU fiscal governance rules and the new intergovernmental Treaty and ensure sound and sustainable public finances.

The workshop will discuss the existing evidence and prospects of fiscal decentralization and budgetary discipline, the role played by domestic fiscal governance in promoting discipline in a decentralized institutional context, cross country analyses and specific country experiences.

The workshop will include speakers and discussants from national authorities, academia and international organizations.

• Web streaming

Documents

• Programme(54 kB)  

Welcome address by Marco Buti, Director General DG ECFIN

Session I: "Fiscal decentralisation and budgetary discipline: evidence and prospects"

Chair: Lucio Pench (DG Ecfin)

• Matteo Governatori (DG Ecfin): "Fiscal decentralisation in the EU – main characteristics and implications for fiscal outcomes(3 MB)  ".
• Luc Eyraud and Marialuz Moreno Badia (IMF):"Too small to fail? Subnational pressures in Europe(652 kB)  ".
• Zareh Asatryan (University of Freiburg and Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW)), Lars P. Feld (University of Freiburg and Walter Eucken Institute) and Benny Geys (Norwegian Business School BI and Vrije Universiteit Brussel): "Partial fiscal decentralisation and sub‑national government fiscal discipline: Empirical evidence from OECD countries(603 kB)  ".

Discussants: Gerhard Steger (Director General Budget and Public Finances, Austria) and Martin Larch (DG Ecfin)

Session II:"Fiscal decentralisation and domestic fiscal frameworks: How different institutional budgetary setting may help ensure fiscal discipline in a context of growing decentralization"

Chair: Stefan Ciobanu (DG Ecfin)

• Thushyanthan Baskaran (University of Goettingen) and Zohal Hessami (University of Mannheim):"Fiscal decentralisation and budgetary stability: transitory effects and long‑run equilibria(252 kB)  ".
• Salvador Barrios (European Commission‑Joint Research Centre) and Diego Martínez (European Commission‑Joint Research Centre and Universidad Pablo de Olavide-Sevilla):"Sub‑national government borrowing and regional development differentials under alternative fiscal frameworks(653 kB)  ".
• Jurgen von Hagen (University of Bonn) and Dirk Foremny (Universitat de Barcelona and IEB):"Sub‑national budgetary discipline during times of crisis: The impact of fiscal rules and tax autonomy(2 MB)  ".

Discussants: Ernesto Crivelli (IMF) and Matteo Salto (DG Ecfin)

Session III:"Country‑specific policy experiences: the cases of Italy and Spain"

Chair: Istvan Pal Szekely (DG Ecfin)

• Emma Galli (University of Rome La Sapienza) and Veronica Grembi (Catholic University of Milan):"Assessing types of fiscal rules(271 kB)  ".
• Pablo Hernández de Cos (Bank of Spain) and Javier J. Pérez (Bank of Spain): "Sub‑national public debt in Spain: political economy issues and the role of fiscal rules and decentralisation(500 kB)  ".

Discussants: Guillem López‑Casasnovas (Universitat Pompeu Fabra-Barcelona) and Alessandro Turrini (DG Ecfin).

Panel Discussion: "What are the main policy options and reforms to ensure budgetary discipline against the backdrop of fiscal decentralization?"

Moderator: Lucio Pench (DG Ecfin)

Participants: Gerhard Steger (Director General Budget and Public Finances, Austria), Guntram Wolff (Bruegel), Guillem López‑Casasnovas (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) and Martin Larch (DG Ecfin).

Concluding remarks: Lucio Pench (DG Ecfin).