Fiscal Policy after the Crisis – Workshop Proceedings

Summary:

This paper presents the proceedings of the annual Public Finance Workshop organised by the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs in Brussels on 19 January 2016 in relation with the publication of its Public Finance in EMU 2015 Report. After the double-dip recession between 2009 and 2013, growth is gradually returning to the EU and the euro area but it is still subject to downside risks. On the nominal side, both inflation and interest rates remain very low, thereby curtailing the stabilisation function of monetary policy. After years of fiscal consolidation, budget deficits have been reduced significantly in most Member States. Nevertheless, the crisis has taken its toll on the societies of several Member States and left us with the legacy of high public-debt ratios and increased social challenges. The workshop discusses the best options for fiscal policy in such an environment. It was organised in two sessions: Session 1: "Fiscal policy in a low-inflation context", and Session 2: "Fiscal policy after the crisis". The proceedings display the high quality contributions that were presented in each of these sessions and the discussions that followed.

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