After a sizeable reduction in government structural deficits in the past years, structural consolidation efforts continued in 2014, albeit at a slower pace. Compared to the 0.7% average consolidation effort that both the EU and the euro area implemented in 2013, the structural balance improved by 0.2% of GDP on average in the EU and 0.3% of GDP in the euro area in 2014. The implemented change in the structural balance was broadly in line with plans as presented in the 2014 SCPs as well as with the 2015 Commission spring forecast for both regions. These average consolidation efforts reflect a considerable dispersion among countries, with half of the EU Member States improving their structural balance position and half of them deteriorating it. Turning to the euro area, ten Member States tightened their fiscal position while seven loosened it. This partly reflects the fact that more Member States were under the preventive arm of the Pact in 2014 compared to 2013, and the structural position of some of them was above their respective MTOs.
The 2015 Stability and Convergence Programmes-An overview/INSTITUTIONAL PAPER 002 | JULY 2015
Σχετικές Αναρτήσεις
- European Commission (2014) “The 2014 Stability and Convergence Programmes: An Overview“, European Economy, Occasional Papers. 199. Ιούλιος 2014: Brussels.
- Bertarelli, S., Censolo, R. & Colombo, C. (2014) “Fiscal Convergence in the European Union before the Crisis“, Contemporary Economic Policy, Volume 32, Issue 4, σσ. 784–801, Οκτώβριος 2014.