THE MACROECONOMIC EFFECTS OF RE-APPLYING THE EU FISCAL RULES: RETURNING TO THE STATUS QUO ANTE OR MOVING TO EXPENDITURE RULES?

Abstract

Against the background of the European Commission’s reform plans of the Stability and Growth Pact, this paper uses NiGEM to simulate the macroeconomic implications of re-applying the fiscal rules in 2024. Next to returning to the unreformed rules, the most prominent options include an expenditure rule. Our results indicate that re-applying the unreformed rules leads to severe cuts in public spending. An expenditure rule would, however, not necessarily alleviate the fiscal adjustment burden. Instead, our simulations show that great care must be taken to specify the expenditure rule, such that fiscal consolidation is achieved in a growth-friendly way.