Fiscal policy

A sober look at the case for common European Union debt

More EU debt will not lower public borrowing costs or deepen markets without fiscal-union features, permanent issuance and credible fiscal backstops

Marie-Sophie Lappe and Jeromin Zettelmeyer

Building the best safe asset          

Why would the euro area need common debt and will new proposals help?

Rebecca Christie, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Silvia Merler and Jeromin Zettelmeyer

German pension reform: first steps along a difficult path

Despite agreement in principle on pension reform in Germany, the country still lags some EU countries in the big decisions on system sustainability

Jacob Funk Kirkegaard

Europe’s rearmament problem is demand, not ‘help to buy’

A proposed bank to finance defence spending does not seem designed to fix more fundamental fragmentation problems, and may even reinforce them

Gene Frieda

Funktionieren die neuen europäischen Haushaltsregeln besser als die alten?

Jeromin Zettelmeyer

The energy shock for which there is no playbook

The US-Iran conflict may be ending but coping with its inflation and fiscal consequences will be challenging for months ahead

Gene Frieda

Planning for the rising fiscal costs of climate disasters

Low insurance coverage is turning EU governments into disaster insurers of last resort, strengthening the case for prevention and adaptation finance

Heather Grabbe, Ugnė Keliauskaitė, Marie-Sophie Lappe, Irene Monasterolo, Massimo Tavoni and Georg Zachmann

2026 European energy crisis fiscal response tracker

This dataset provides an overview of the fiscal measures implemented by European governments to mitigate the 2026 energy shock in Europe

Ben McWilliams, Thomas Mramor, Alexander Roth and Simone Tagliapietra

How can governments prepare for the rising costs of climate disasters?

Ugnė Keliauskaitė

When oil is scarce and debt is binding: policy sequencing under a severe energy supply shock

With inflation still binding and fiscal space thin, the 2026 Iran shock revives the case for pre-committed, conditional yield anchors with clear exit

Gene Frieda

Between values and interests: drivers of EU aid

EU aid is still more poverty-focused than peers, but external policy drivers are growing and reshaping development cooperation after Global Gateway

Anna Bahí, Roel Dom, Niclas Poitiers and Camille Reverdy

How has the Global Gateway reshaped EU development aid?

Roel Dom and Camille Reverdy

How could Hungary streamline public spending without undermining growth?

Zsolt Darvas

Hungary has room to streamline public spending without hurting growth

Cutting some state operating and economic spending to the average of its regional peers could save Hungary more than four percent of GDP

Zsolt Darvas

Where Hungary’s money went — and where a Tisza government could move

Zsolt Darvas