Euro-area reforms will reinforce fiscal consolidation

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Euro Area ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Bank Failures ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Southern European Countries

Significance The reforms would allow the ESM, which provides emergency loans to distressed member states, to offer greater assistance to banks and enhance its capacity to design and implement bailout programmes. They will enter into force once ratified by national parliaments. Impacts The reforms will boost confidence in EU markets and reduce the risk of contagion from bank failures. The ESM will remain politically divisive, especially in southern European countries. Pressure will grow on governments to prioritise fiscal consolidation from 2022, threatening to undermine growth in weaker economies.

Air pollution and public finance: evidence for European countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 1398-1417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Carratù ◽  
Bruno Chiarini ◽  
Antonella D’Agostino ◽  
Elisabetta Marzano ◽  
Andrea Regoli
Keyword(s):  
Public Finance ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Environmental Quality ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether a statistically significant relationship exists between environmental quality, as measured by consumption-related air pollution, and public debt in Europe. In addition, since the debt burden is one of the most important indicators of fiscal soundness within the European Union (EU) Treaty and the subsequent fiscal compact, the authors propose a simple test to determine whether participation in EU Treaties has shaped the empirical relationship between fiscal policy/public debt and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach To this end, the authors built a panel data set that covers 24 European countries over the period 1996–2015. Findings The aspect that the authors want to underline is a possible trade off, which is confirmed in the empirical analysis, between the public finance equilibrium and the maintenance of a public good such as air quality. However, there are important non-linearities that shape the interaction between public debt and environmental pollution. Similarly, threshold effects arise when the authors examine the interaction between EU regulation and public debt and when the authors separately examine high debt and low debt countries. When the authors account for the stabilization rules introduced by EU Treaties, a negative effect on pollution is evident; in this way, fiscal consolidation limits the positive effect of fiscal policy. Practical implications The results point out the existence of a potential trade-off between the role of EU as a regulator aiming to mitigate environmental pollution, and its role within the Stability and Growth Pact. The analysis highlights that fiscal consolidation policies, while facilitating the achievement of macroeconomic stability within EU, might have a negative side effect on the environment quality, which spreads beyond the borders of one single country. Originality/value While a number of studies have suggested that fiscal spending might contribute to the level of pollution in European countries, there is scant evidence of the effect of public debt on environmental performance. This lack of scientific knowledge is a serious shortcoming, since it may allow for an underrepresentation of the wide-ranging consequences of stabilization programmes targeting the debt-to-GDP ratio, which could affect environmental quality.

All factors point to left-right coalition in Portugal

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Euro Area ◽  
Presidential Election ◽  
Parliamentary Election ◽  
Opinion Poll ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Electoral Cycle ◽  
Opinion Polls

Subject The outlook for the October 4 parliamentary election. Significance The October 4 parliamentary election will be the first since Portugal exited its euro-area/IMF bailout. The poll launches a Portuguese electoral cycle which includes the January 2016 presidential election, and a series of parliamentary elections in euro-area post-bailout states, with Spain and Ireland to follow. Opinion polls suggest a tight race between the governing two-party centre-right alliance and the main opposition Socialists (PS), but -- in contrast to other bailout states -- no breakthrough by any new or radical force. Impacts Given the closeness of parties' opinion poll standings, the campaign period could be decisive. Whatever its make-up, the next government is likely to be committed to fiscal consolidation and Portugal's post-bailout obligations. An election win for Portugal's governing centre-right would be a pre-election fillip for its counterpart in Spain.

Prospects for the euro-area in 2020

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chains ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Euro Area ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Area Growth ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
Export Industries

Subject Prospects for the euro-area in 2020. Significance The main factors that could weaken euro-area growth in 2020 include further damage to Germany’s export industries, which would hit the extensive supply chains and jobs across many smaller and less resilient member states, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as specific social, economic and political challenges in individual countries.

scholarly journals Export specialisation and output synchronisation in the euro area: The case of Southern countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 617-637
Author(s):  
Sofia Helena Gouveia
Keyword(s):  
Business Cycles ◽  
Euro Area ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
European Monetary ◽  
Member States ◽  
Sectoral Structure ◽  
Optimum Currency ◽  
Southern European Countries ◽  
Of Greece

Business cycle synchronisation and the similarity in the sectoral structure of exports are key conditions for the successful implementation of common monetary policy, as shown by the theory of Optimum Currency Areas. This paper examines the degree of correlation between the aggregate euro area and 12 member states’ business cycles and the role of their exports specialisation dynamics vis-à-vis the euro area over the period 1981–2012, focusing in particular on Southern European countries. Overall, we find that since the inception of the European Monetary Union, the business cycles of euro area member states have been increasingly synchronised with the aggregate euro area cycle, with the exception of Greece. We also document that changes in the Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish export structures brought these countries closer to the euro area structure as a whole. Furthermore, we find a positive and significant relationship between the similarity of export structures and GDP cyclical correlations.

EU fiscal reform will be modest at best

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Euro Area ◽  
Tax Policy ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Fiscal Rules ◽  
Fiscal Reform ◽  
Member States ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Content Type

Significance Member states will start to negotiate possible reform of the fiscal rules in October, aiming for agreement by March. The outcome will be vital for spending and tax policy across the euro-area over the coming years. Impacts Pressure will grow on hawkish member states to exempt areas relating to the green and digital transitions from strict spending rules. Premature fiscal tightening would likely result in political instability in Spain and Italy. Soaring prices could trigger social unrest and put pressure on governments to cut certain taxes.

Measuring energy heating performance of apartment buildings in Kosovo built after 2003

Facilities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 395-420
Author(s):  
Visar Hoxha
Keyword(s):  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Apartment Building ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Construction Period ◽  
Heating Performance ◽  
Apartment Buildings ◽  
New Construction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to quantify the energy heating performance of apartment buildings in Kosovo built after 2003 and compare it against the energy heating performance of buildings in member states of EU and selected European countries. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a case study approach focussed on the assessment of the heating energy performance of the building. This approach facilitated a detailed calculation of the selected materials’ energy performance used in a representative building structure in Kosovo comparing with passive buildings standard and energy heating performance of buildings in member states of EU and selected European countries. Findings Results of quantitative research find that the energy heating performance of apartment buildings in Kosovo built after 2003 is far higher than that of passive buildings standard and is better than the average annual energy heating performance of apartment buildings in member states of the EU and selected European countries. Research limitations/implications The research provides new knowledge regarding energy heating performance in new residential buildings in Kosovo and compares the findings with earlier research and energy consumption in other selected European countries. The research provides great benefits for researchers and practitioners working in the field of energy management as it compares the energy performance of residential buildings across Europe. Originality/value This paper provides a perspective on investigating the energy performance of a building structure of a residential apartment building in Prishtina, Kosovo. By unveiling the level of energy consumption of a residential apartment building in Kosovo representative of the new construction period can help the facility managers to acknowledge the standards they must achieve to refurbish the old building stock to achieve at least the same standard as the buildings in the new construction period.

The governance of innovation from a European perspective, social articulation and transmission of knowledge

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piet Moonen
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Science System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Innovative Performance ◽  
Transmission Of Knowledge ◽  
Innovation Policies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the key developments concerning innovation at universities at a macro level. It describes the key trends and changes in the governance of universities and the transformation of universities into organizational actors. This also affects the governance on academic research in the sense that it leads to a gradual evolution of the specific public science system in which research is being initiated and executed. Design/methodology/approach Cultural evolution involves social articulation and transmission of knowledge. What makes a culture distinctive is how it distributes interactions in the information-space. Findings The innovation policies of the European Union play a noticeable, but not yet dominant, role in the EU member states, at least not in the large member states. The wide gap between the North of Europe and the South and East of Europe in innovative performance is – despite the innovation policies of the European Union – still difficult to overcome. Originality/value The actual innovative performance of ten European countries has been evaluated. Northern European countries show a higher score on the Innovation Index, whereas countries in Southern Europe score relatively low. Can we relate this difference to cultural factors?

scholarly journals The European Semester and Parliamentary Oversight Institutions Inside and Outside of the Euro Area

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 100-111
Author(s):  
Thomas Winzen
Keyword(s):  
Euro Area ◽  
Public Debt ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Member States ◽  
Differentiated Integration ◽  
Maastricht Criteria ◽  
Parliamentary Oversight

The European Semester is a challenge for national parliaments but also an opportunity to reform domestic oversight institutions. Drawing on data from all member states, this study examines the conditions under which national parliaments use this opportunity. Is Euro area membership a prerequisite for parliamentary adaptation to the European Semester and, if so, which further combinations of conditions account for variation among Euro area countries? The analysis suggests that membership in or close ties with the Euro area and institutional strength constitute <em>necessary conditions</em> for parliamentary adaptation. Combined with other factors—in particular, public debt exceeding the Maastricht criteria—these conditions explain reform in many cases. National parliamentary adaptation to the European Semester thus follows existing institutional divisions constituted by differentiated integration in the Euro area and uneven national parliamentary strength.

Cancelling ECB-held sovereign debt would harm not help

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Euro Area ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Government Debt ◽  
Economic Recovery ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Debt Cancellation

Significance The debate is timely, as in the next two months the European Commission will review the fiscal programmes of member states amid calls for further stimulus to boost economic recovery. Impacts The safest and surest way to cut sovereign debt in the most highly-indebted EU states will be by implementing growth-oriented investments. Further calls to cancel government debt will further fuel uncertainty at a time when consensus between euro-area states is most needed. Debt cancellation is highly unlikely because of opposition from euro-area countries with the lowest government-debt-to-GDP ratios.

Northern EU countries may lose influence post-Brexit

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Euro Area ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Inner Circle ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Subject The impact of Brexit on northern European countries. Significance The United Kingdom's vote to leave the EU presents a particular challenge to northern EU countries -- some of which are, like the United Kingdom, not members of the euro-area -- as they will lose a powerful ally for a more competitive, fiscally disciplined and globally oriented EU. Impacts Brexit could accelerate a closer economic, financial and fiscal integration of the euro-area, which many non-euro-area capitals oppose. Brexit could widen the gap between an 'inner circle' of euro-area members and a periphery of non-euro ones. The loss of UK contributions to the EU budget means that the burden shouldered by northern EU countries, all net contributors, will rise.

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