On Tuesday, 30 November, Intereconomics and the Centre for European Policy Studies invite you to join us for our annual conference on Redesigning EU Fiscal Rules After COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the policy responses to it have highlighted two related issues in the EU fiscal surveillance framework: the increasing distance of some member states from the official threshold for the government debt of 60% of GDP as well as the lack of clarity about the future of the EU fiscal framework, once the suspension of the general escape clause comes to an end. Further, the current framework might not sufficiently take into account the need for government investment to drive the green and digital transition, particularly against the background of the current low interest rate regime. All these elements point to a new debate about EU fiscal rules. The European Commission has taken stock of the changed circumstances for economic governance after the outbreak of the pandemic, and for the first time it has open public consultations on how to enhance the effectiveness of the fiscal framework. The latest European Fiscal Board annual report suggests reforms to the EU fiscal framework based on a medium-term debt anchor, an expenditure rule as the main policy instrument and a single escape clause applied on the basis of independent analysis.
Keynote speech: Economic recovery in the age of COVID-19
Carlos Cuerpo, Secretary-General of Spanish Treasury
Session 1: The Economics of Fiscal Rules and Debt Sustainability
Klaus Regling, Managing Director, European Stability Mechanism, Luxembourg
Roel Beetsma, Member of the European Fiscal Board (EFB) and Professor of Macroeconomics, University of Amsterdam
Philippa Sigl-Glöckner, Director, Dezernat Zukunft, Munich
Session 2: What Type of Fiscal Rules Does the EU Need Post COVID-19?
Catherine Mathieu, Economist, L’Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (OFCE), Paris
Sebastian Barnes, Deputy, Network of EU Independent Fiscal Institutions, Dublin
Cinzia Alcidi, Director, Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels
