.Fiscal Federalism in the European Union

Transcription

1 A.Fiscal Federalism in the European Union Edited by Amedeo Fossati and Giorgio Panella London and New York

2 Contents List of figures ix List of tables xi List of contributors xiv Preface xv Introduction 1 AMEDEO FOSSATI AND GIORGIO PANELLA PARTI Europe and fiscal federalism 13 * \ A comparative view of local finances in EU member countries: are there any lessons to be drawn? 15 GIANCARLO POLA Introduction: origin and scope of the chapter 15 The patterns of organisation and decentralisation of expenditure at the end of the period: similarities and differences 16 The revenue side of fiscal decentralisation 29 The compared evolution of local finance, ; the role of reforms thereupon 46 Current developments and debates: what lessons (if any) can be drawn? 48 Appendix A: institutional and organisational changes, , by country 57 Appendix B: non-tax revenue in EU countries: the system of grants 60

3 vi Contents yl Developing fiscal federalism in Eastern Europe 63 MICHAEL ENGELSCHALK Background 63 Principles of financing of subnational governments in transition countries: the theory 66 Financing subnational governments in transition countries: current status of reform 68 Reforming fiscal federalism in central and eastern European countries: lessons and outlook 76 >3 Stabilisation policy in the European Monetary Union and fiscal federalism 80 ALBERTO MAJOCCHI The Maastricht constraints and fiscal policy 80 r The need for quantitative constraints on the deficit 82 ' The stabilisation policy in the European economy 84. The inadequacy of the solutions called for in the Maastricht treaty 88 The regional stabilisation policy 91 < The size of the Community budget and the growth of own < resources 93 Conclusions 97 PART II The state of fiscal federalism in Europe Fiscal federalism in Austria: facts and new developments 103 ERICH THONI Introduction 103 Some remarks on Austrian fiscal terms, regional and local government expenditure functions and finance systems 103 Pros and cons of the development: a politico-economic appraisal 116 The new consultation mechanism between central, regional and local governments 118 Final remarks 119

4 Contents 5 Local government in Denmark 122 J0RGEN R. LOTZ The Nordic model of local government 122 The role of local personal income tax 125 Local government equalisation 126 Central control of local expenditure Local taxation and intergovernmental fiscal relations in France 131 GUY GILBERT Introduction 131 The distribution of taxing powers among tiers of governments 132 Intergovernmental fiscal relations: equalisation and compensation vs macroeconomic constraints 140 The reform of local taxation: a prerequisite for fiscal equalisation? 153 Concluding remarks Experiences with German fiscal federalism: how to preserve the decentral content? 162 HORST ZIMMERMANN Introduction 162 The basis: two principles of fiscal federalism 162 Paths to centralisation in Germany 164 How to retain the decentral content? Local governments in Great Britain 177 DAVID KING Introduction 177 Great Britain 177 The structure of local government 178 Current expenditures and revenues of local authorities 183 Local taxation 184 Grants 188 Working out individual authorities' needs to spend on individual services 192 Problems 197 vii

5 viii Contents 9 Towards fiscal federalism in Italy 201 AMEDEO FOSSATI Introduction 201 Current popularity of fiscal federalism in Italy 201 The blocks to achieving fiscal federalism 205 The problems of Italy 209 Conclusions Fiscal federalism in Spain. Decentralisation: an unfinished task 222 JAVIER SUAREZ-PANDIELLO Introduction 222 The decentralisation process: theory and policy 223 The autonomous financing models 232 The financing system of local governments 241 Final comments Fiscal federalism in Switzerland: a survey of constitutional issues, budget responsibility and equalisation 255 BERNARD DAFFLON Introduction 255 Institutional issues 256 The public sector: some facts and figures 259 Budget responsibility 276 Tax coordination and harmonisation 277 Equalisation 284 Conclusions 288 Index 295