Forced Fiscal Regulation: Impact Factors and Efficiency

Abstract

Tax regulation issues have been the focus since the COVID-19 crisis and the subsequent EU energy crisis. From the Keynesian approach, the expansionary fiscal policy of states can contribute to stimulating aggregate demand and, as a consequence, economic growth, on the other hand, the post-crisis macroeconomic policy trend has become fiscal compression (budget consolidation), corresponding to the neoliberal paradigm. This policy has been actively promoted by the supranational institutions of EU, which, with the help of various instruments of fiscal regulation, have effectively imposed budgetary consolidation on member countries. Considering that the European Commission continues to urge countries to better the sustainability of their public finances and believes that the situation with the tax system is only safe in some EU countries, while in others, it finds significant imbalances, exceptionally high levels of public debt, which need to be corrected by the Stability and Growth Pact mechanisms, the relevance of this study is beyond doubt.