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Reforming the financing of the European Union: A proposal

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  • Fuest, Clemens
  • Heinemann, Friedrich
  • Ungerer, Martin

Abstract

In this paper we propose a reform of the EU financing system. The two most important elements of our proposal are i) to make the contribution of taxpayers to the EU budget more visible by showing an EU VAT share on receipts and ii) to increase the power of the European Parliament in the determination of the structure of EU expenditures by limiting the multiannual financial framework to the overall size of the EU budget while the structure of expenditures will be determined annually. It is the objective of the second reform element to give greater weight to policies with EU wide benefits and to crowd back the influence of 'juste retour' thinking on EU expenditures. The setup of this paper is as follows. In section 2 we briefly summarize the current structure of EU revenues and expenditures. Section 3 discusses the critique of the current system and perspectives for reform. In section 4, we present our reform proposal and section 5 concludes.

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  • Fuest, Clemens & Heinemann, Friedrich & Ungerer, Martin, 2015. "Reforming the financing of the European Union: A proposal," ZEW policy briefs 2/2015, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:zewpbs:22015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Rolf Caesar, 2001. "An EU tax?—Not a good idea," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 36(5), pages 231-233, September.
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    9. Christina Zimmer & Gerald Schneider & Michael Dobbins, 2005. "The Contested Council: Conflict Dimensions of an Intergovernmental EU Institution," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 53(2), pages 403-422, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Veronika Solilová & Danuše Nerudová, 2018. "Výnosový potenciál společného konsolidovaného korporátního základu daně v Evropské unii [Revenue Potential of the CCCTB in the European Union]," Politická ekonomie, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(1), pages 78-98.
    2. Jorge Núñez Ferrer & Jacques Le Cacheux & Giacomo Benedetto & Mathieu Saunier & Fabien Candau & Claude Emonnot & Florence Lachet-Touya & Jorgen Mortensen & Aymeric Potteau & Igor Taranic, 2016. "Study on the potential and limitations of reforming the financing of the EU budget [Perspectives et limites pour réformer le financement du budget de l’UE]," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01848029, HAL.
    3. Jorge Núñez Ferrer & Jacques Le Cacheux & Giacomo Benedetto & Mathieu Saunier & Fabien Candau & Claude Emonnot & Florence Lachet-Touya & Jorgen Mortensen & Aymeric Potteau & Igor Taranic, 2016. "Study on the potential and limitations of reforming the financing of the EU budget
      [Perspectives et limites pour réformer le financement du budget de l’UE]      ," Working Papers hal-01848029, HAL.
    4. Veronika Solilová & Danuše Nerudová & Marian Dobranschi, 2017. "Sustainability-oriented future EU funding: a financial transaction tax," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 687-731, November.
    5. Massimo Bordignon & Simona Scabrosetti, 2016. "The Political Economy of Financing the EU budget," Working papers 42, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    6. Kengyel, Ákos, 2024. "A 2027 utáni uniós költségvetési keretek kialakítását befolyásoló adottságok [Factors influencing the preparation of the post-2027 EU budget framework]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1381-1405.
    7. Alexander Krenek & Mark Sommer & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2020. "A WTO-compatible Border Tax Adjustment for the ETS to Finance the EU Budget," WIFO Working Papers 596, WIFO.
    8. Alexander Hudetz & Ann Mumford & Danuse Nerudová & Margit Schratzenstaller, 2017. "Reform needs and options in the EU system of own resources," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 609-613, November.
    9. Giacomo Benedetto, 2017. "Institutions and the route to reform of the European Union’s budget revenue, 1970–2017," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 44(4), pages 615-633, November.
    10. Kengyel, Ákos, 2019. "Az Európai Unió költségvetésének jövője a 2021-2027-es többéves pénzügyi keret tükrében [The future of the EU budget in the light of the 2021-2027 multi-annual financial framework]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(5), pages 521-550.
    11. Alexander Krenek & Mark Sommer & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2019. "Sustainability-oriented Future EU Funding. A European Border Carbon Adjustment," WIFO Working Papers 587, WIFO.
    12. Cipriani, Gabriele, 2016. "Reforming the EU’s Budget Revenue: The case for a visible VAT-based resource," CEPS Papers 11979, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    13. Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger, 2017. "The Next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), its Structure and the Own Resources," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60722.

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