Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 20th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview Public Finance Author(s) Tatiana Houbenova-Delisivkova Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Sofia Bulgaria Title The role of fiscal adjustment of the new EU member states for the EMU entry: The Europeanization of public finances management and the challenges to the anti-crisis fiscal policies File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Tatiana Houbenova-Delisivkova Abstract Tatiana Houbenova-Delisivkova Professor in International Economics Economic Research Institute Sofia Bulgaria The Role of Fiscal Adjustment of the New EU Member States for the EMU Entry: the Europeanization of the Public Finances Management and the Challenges to the Anti-crisis Fiscal Policies The paper is focused on issues of fiscal policy coordination in the Euro area and the challenges to the new EU member states in implementation of different national fiscal policy options while preparing for the entry of the EMU. The main research question concerns the evaluation of the impact of the fiscal sovereignty in the new EU member states on their preparation to join the Euro area. The paper discusses the ways in which the new EU member states adjust their national fiscal policy by making better use of introducing the appropriate tax structure and fiscal systems in order to reflect the specific conditions and priorities of the national economic policy and to achieve the required in the EMU sustainability of public finances in medium and long term aspect. The aim of the paper is to reveal the differentiation of fiscal policies of the EU Member States as well as the considerable differentiation of the national tax systems and tax structures which result in tax competition among different member states and in erosion of the tax harmonization achieved in the Single market. This has become a great challenge to the coordination of the government budget policies and the fiscal discipline in the EMU. The paper includes the results of a comparative study of fiscal policies of the new EU member states with some of the old member states in three main areas. The first part of the paper makes comparisons and evaluation of the degree and the forms of EU tax harmonization as regards the VAT applied in the new EU member states. The VAT contribution to the Government revenues is compared for the new EU member states in order to prove the need and the options for some tax reforms as anticrisis policy measures. The second part of the paper is based on the study of the statistical indicators for comparison of the income taxes and the income tax structure in the countries concerned. The conclusions are drawn on the basis of the quantitative analysis of the increased burden of the income and indirect taxes in the new EU member states after their entry in the EU and due to the recent crisis. The conclusions are drawn for the consequences of such tax burden for the Government budget policies and fiscal sustainability. The third part of the paper analyses the direct taxes in the new EU member states and the administrative costs of the business in executing their tax obligations which are a result from the differences among the fiscal systems of the EU member states. The options for further coordination of the corporate taxation and introduction of tax on financial transactions are discussed as possible steps to tax harmonization and better fiscal coordination In the conclusion the quantitative comparison of the new EU member states compliance with the convergence criteria for public finances in the EMU allows for considering options for better coordination of fiscal policies..
