Public Spending Reviews: design, conduct, implementation

Abstract:
This paper proposes to highlight the main features and key success factors of the design, conduct and implementation of spending reviews, based on the experiences of EU Member States. Public expenditure accounts for almost half of the annual wealth created in the EU (49.0% of GDP in 2013). A major policy lesson stemming from the crisis is the need to enhance expenditure performance, which can be defined as the reinforced connection between funding decisions and policy priorities (shall this policy be funded with public money?) and subsequently between funding levels and results delivered to end-users (what is the value for public money?).Spending reviews appear as an adequate instrument of expenditure performance. They consist in seeking a 'smarter' expenditure allocation across national policy priorities based on a selective and sustainable expenditure-based consolidation.

European Commission: DG Economic and Financial Affairs:European Economy: Economic Papers No.525, July 2014:Public Spending Reviews: design, conduct, implementation http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/economic_paper/2014/ecp525_en.htm

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