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Kálmán Dezséri
This article focuses on budgetary and re-distributive modes in the EU. Starting from theoretical and conceptional considerations, the paper identifies the main areas of redistributive effects of the EU budget and examines their emergence and evolution. Also reflecting lessons that can be drawn from experience, the author presents results of empirical analysis and the impact of the EU enlargements on budgetary redistribution. Finally, the author reveals that the EU budget has to be regarded as redistributive from both the revenue and expenditure side.
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Kálmán Dezséri
Similarly to any national budget, the European Union budget clearly has a redistributive function, which is to serve common policy aims defined jointly by the member states. One of the most important issues of the redistributive effects of the EU budget is how to set member states’ fiscal balances in a manner that is consistent with equity criterion without sacrificing other economic policy goals.
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Kalmán Dezseri
The EU budget always leads to intense debate and tough negotiations, yet its total amount represents only a very tiny share of aggregate public spending of the EU-25 and around 1 % of the GNI of the 25 member states. The EU budget is characterised by basically four points: a) the general structure of both revenue and expenditure sides has remained rather stable since 1988, b) the size of the budget is a permanent issue of debate and is actually capped by a ceiling, b) about 70 % of the expenditure has been allocated to just two areas: Common Agricultural Policy and cohesion policy, d) the funding of the budget has shifted towards direct payments from the national budgets of the member states. Under such conditions, the redistributive function of the EU budget cannot fulfil the expected positive role fully.
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