140 likes | 325 Views
PUBLIC DEBT DYNAMICS IN THE EU. Andrea Montanino European Commission Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs, Public Finances with particular reference to the euro zone. EU FISCAL RULES IN BRIEF. What?. How much?. Where?. Maastricht Treaty. Deficit ceiling. 3% of GDP.
E N D
PUBLIC DEBT DYNAMICS IN THE EU Andrea Montanino European Commission Directorate General Economic and Financial Affairs, Public Finances with particular reference to the euro zone
EU FISCAL RULES IN BRIEF What? How much? Where? Maastricht Treaty Deficit ceiling 3% of GDP Debt ceiling/target Maastricht Treaty 60% of GDP Stability and Growth Pact Close to balance Deficit target
DEBT DYNAMIC IN EU (Right axis)
IS DEBT CRITERION STRINGENT ENOUGH? [1] [2] , [3] [4]
ENSURE DEBT REDUCTION [5] [6]
WHY REDUCING DEBT NOW IS IMPORTANT: THE ISSUE OF LONG TERM SUSTAINABILITY OF PUBLIC FINANCES
SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS • Extrapolation of debt levels up to 2050 based: • targets for budget balance in 2007 as set down in stability and convergence programmes • constant tax burden and non-age related primary expenditures at 2007 level • projected increase in age-related spending based on Economic Policy Committe or national projections
AGE-RELATED EXPENDITURE PROJECTIONS IN EU COUNTRIES Source: Economic policy Committee (2003): it includes pensions, health care, education and unemployment benefits
TO SUM UP • Rational for EU fiscal rules and in particular for the Stability and Growth Pact can be found in long term challenges. • Long term sustainability is not ensured in EU countries and the risk of repaying the debt is more theoretical than real. The 3% ceiling is not sufficient to ensure sustaianbility in the long term • Debt raises concern: • It is increasing in some countries • It does not reduce at a satisfactory pace in some of the high debt countries • More focus on debt and long term sustainability is needed in the EU framework
USEFUL REFERENCES Public Finances in EMU – 2003 http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/publications/publicfinance_en.htm Economic Policy Commitee long term projections and methodological references http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/epc/epc_ageing_en.htm National Stability and Convergence Programmes and Commission assessements http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/about/activities/sgp/year/year20032004_en.htm