GENERAL ASPECTS ON THE FISCAL DISCIPLINE IN THE EU MEMBER COUNTRIES

The sustainability of public finances and the sound fiscal policies are considered the core of the European Monetary Union (EMU). There is a long debate along the compliance with the objectives of the Treaty of Maastricht and the Stability and Growth Pact on whether setting a certain level of public debt is sustainable under the particular economic conditions of each member state. This paper aims to provide some general aspects on how fiscal discipline works in the member states within the European Union. The first section of the paper introduces a brief EU fiscal policy framework. The second section considers the fiscal performance of the member states after 1990 and the third one is related to the domestic budget processes within the EU as the key to success for fiscal discipline. Finally, the lost port of the paper provides concluding remarks regarding the fiscal discipline in the EU.