Fiscal Rules in the European Union

ABSTRACTS PART I - The EMU and its Fiscal Rules This paper treats the fiscal rules of the European Economic and Monetary Union. It begins by introducing this union's inception and by discussing its set of fiscal rules - the Stability and Growth Pact, including its reform. The rationale for policy coordination and the need for fiscal rules in a monetary union are then investigated. The Stability and Growth Pact is then assessed from this point of view. The most important part of the paper is devoted to the analysis of whether the Stability and Growth Pact could be substituted by the disciplining effect of the financial markets. Our findings suggest that there is certain interaction between the financial markets and the governments' decisions on the fiscal policies and that this reaction has become stronger after the beginning of the latest financial and economic crisis. However, the institutional setup and market conditions in the European Union are such that this interaction is biased and thus we conclude that the Union needs to have fiscal rules. JEL Classification: C23, E44, E61, E62, H62, H87 Keywords: European Economic and Monetary Union, Stability and Growth Pact, Financial markets, Fiscal rules, Policy coordination PART II - The Golden Rule of Public Finance and Productivity of Public Capital This..