Fiscal Adjustment in European Union Countries

This article aims to identify the applied strategies for fiscal adjustments for the period 1996-2011 in European Union countries –there are determined the fiscal policy stance (neutral, relaxed, very relaxed, strict or very strict), there are considered the episodes of fiscal adjustment (a reduction of fiscal deficit more than 1,5 pp), there is identified the fiscal discipline and there are determined the characteristics of fiscal adjustment – the size, the composition (through the increase of public revenues or through the decrease of public expenditures) and the effect on the economic growth. Depending on the reaction of the real economy, measured by the evolution of economic growth, there are identified the “optimal” adjustment strategies.