A better process for a better budget

Publishing date: 28 July 2009
Authors: Indhira Santos

This policy brief provides a practical solution to facilitate reform of the EU budget decision-making process, overcome the detachment of EU spending from political priorities and increase focus on EU public goods. As the negotiations for the next financial framework are expected to start in less than two years, the window of opportunity for reform is closing rapidly. Additional pressure arises from the need to design a substitute, by Spring 2010, for the Lisbon Strategy that better aligns EU policy goals and spending. For the authors now is the time for reform.

About the authors

Indhira Santos

Indhira Santos was Research Fellow at Bruegel in June 2007 until July 2009, when she left to join the World Bank. She holds a PhD in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a specialisation in economic development and public economics.

She was born and raised in the Dominican Republic where she studied economics as an undergraduate. She was Chief Researcher at the Economic research center of PUCMM University and worked for the Ministry of Finance. She has also worked for the central Bank of Turkey.

Indhira's research interests are development microeconomics, public economics and organisational analysis.

She coordinated Bruegel‘s project on the EU budget.

She is fluent in Spanish and English.