Improving fiscal policy in the EU : the case for independent forecasts

How should the fiscal policy process of the Member States of the EU be designed? This question is presently the subject of lively discussion among policy-makers and economists alike. The debate has been fuelled by the recent controversy concerning the budgetary positions of Germany and France, which culminated in the ECOFIN decision of November 25, 2003. It has set off a flood of comments and proposals for reinterpreting, revising or modifying the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP), the legal framework for fiscal policy-making within the EU.