Rethinking the European Fiscal Framework

Workshop organised by the European Fiscal Board, in collaboration with CEPR and ACES

Charlemagne Building, Rue de la Loi 170, 1000 Bruxelles, Belgium

Friday 28 February 2020, Brussels

 

Video Recording: https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/rethinking-the-european-fiscal-framework

The full set of papers, presentations and videos is now available on the European Fiscal Board's (EFB) website  https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-policy-coordination/european-fiscal-board-efb/rethinking-european-fiscal-framework_e

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• Register here

The experience with the current European fiscal framework is at best mixed, as the European Fiscal Board has shown in its recent evaluation report of the EU fiscal rules. Indeed, there is substantial discussion about how they could be best revised. This workshop revisits the EU fiscal rules. However, it also takes a broader view of EU arrangements by exploring the case for a central fiscal capacity and “blue sky arrangements” based on a complete overhaul of the current fiscal framework.

 

PROGRAMME

08.30 - 09.00                Registration

 

09.00 - 09.15                Welcoming remarks by Roel Beetsma | Member, European Fiscal Board and CEPR

 

09.15 – 09.30              Keynote address by Paolo Gentiloni | European Commissioner for Economy

                                    Chair: Niels Thygesen | Chair, European Fiscal Board

 

Session 1                  European fiscal rules (speakers 25 min., discussant 15 min., floor 15 min.)

                                   Chair: Cláudia Braz | Central Bank of Portugal

 

09.30 - 11.15              'Consistent Flexibility: Enforcement of Fiscal Rules Through Political Incentives’

                                   Eckhard Janeba | University of Mannheim

                                   ‘Do EU Fiscal Rules Support Counter-cyclical Fiscal Policy? The Importance of Institutional Reform’

                                   Martin Larch | Head of Secretariat, European Fiscal Board

                                   ‘Performance of spending rules at the EU level – a quantitative assessment’

                                   Gilles Mourre | European Commission

                                   Discussant: Philippe Martin | Professor Science Po and CEPR

 

11.15 – 11.40             Coffee break

 

Session 2                  Central Fiscal Capacities (speakers 25 min., discussant 15 min.; floor 15 min.)

                                   Chair: Jeromin Zettelmeyer | International Monetary Fund and CEPR

 

11.40 – 13.25   'An Unemployment Re-Insurance Scheme for the Eurozone? Stabilizing and  Redistributive Effects’

Mathias Dolls | Ifo Institute and CESifo

                                     'On the Design of a European Unemployment Insurance System’

Ramon Marimon | European University Institute and CEPR

‘On a fiscal capacity for the euro area’

 Lars Feld | German Council of Economic Advisors & University of Freiburg

 Discussant: Agnès Bénassy-Quéré | Paris School of Economics

 

13.25 - 14.40                 Lunch break

 

Session 3                      Blue-sky proposals (speaker 40 min., discussants 10 min.; floor 15 min.)

                                       Chair: Lucrezia Reichlin | London Business School and CEPR

 

14.40 – 15.55                 ‘Revisiting the EU fiscal framework in an era of low interest rates’

                                      Keynote address by Olivier Blanchard | Peterson Institute for International Economics      and CEPR

  Discussants: Clemens Fuest (President CESifo) and Thomas Wieser (Bruegel)

 

15.55 - 17.05                 Panel Discussion: Rethinking the EU Fiscal Framework   

  Jean Pisani-Ferry (Moderator) | Sciences-Po and EUI

  Lucrezia Reichlin (10 min) | London Business School and CEPR

  Mateusz Szczurek (10min) | Member of the European Fiscal Board

  Guido Tabellini (10min) | University of Bocconi and CEPR

  Beatrice Weder di Mauro (10 min) | CEPR

  Olivier Blanchard | Peterson Institute for International Economics and CEPR

 

17.05 - 17.20                   Concluding remarks by Massimo Bordignon | Member of the European Fiscal Board