Fiscal surveillance in EMU: New issues and challenges. A Workshop organised by the European Commission Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs, Brussels, 12 November 2004

The analysis and surveillance of fiscal policy in EMU evolves over time. This evolution is driven partly by efforts by European policy-makers to upgrade the quality of budgetary surveillance and partly by the emergence of new issues to be tackled. Examples of significant adaptation include the use of cyclically-adjusted budget balances, the assessment of long-term sustainability and quality within the surveillance based on the stability and convergence programmes and the improvement in the quality of the data on which policy conclusions are based. Among the most relevant issues to which the EU fiscal framework is exposed there are those related to enlargement, fiscal decentralisation, measuring compliance with fiscal rules and possible trade-offs in reforming public finances. The workshop addresses key issues and challenges for EU fiscal policy-makers in the years to come.

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