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Stability and Growth Pact of the European Union

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Abstract

While fiscal policy making in the EU is in the hands of national governments, it is to be carried out in accordance with commonly agreed rules: the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). The SGP originates in the understanding that uncoordinated fiscal policy produces cross-border effects that can harm the functioning of the Economic and Monetary Union. For member states with an excessive deficit, that is, a general government deficit of more than 3% of GDP, the SGP rules are more invasive. Since its inception in 1997, the SGP has undergone a series of amendments aimed at improving fiscal governance in the EU.

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Larch, M., Jonung, L. (2018). Stability and Growth Pact of the European Union. In: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95189-5_2877

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