Are Maastricht Criteria Guarantee for the Future of the European Union? Germany - United Kingdom - Spain - Greece Analysis (1998-2018)

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Bektas C., SARAÇ Ö.

SOSYOEKONOMI, cilt.29, sa.47, ss.383-406, 2021 (ESCI) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 29 Sayı: 47
  • Basım Tarihi: 2021
  • Doi Numarası: 10.17233/sosyoekonomi.2021.01.19
  • Dergi Adı: SOSYOEKONOMI
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.383-406
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: Rule Based Fiscal Policy, Fiscal Rules, European Union, Economic and Monetary Union, Maastricht Criteria, Stability and Growth Pact
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Maastricht Criteria which are actually known as Convergence Criteria can be regarded as the most popular embodiment of fiscal policy rules. Fiscal rules not only put limits on politicians who are using public resources but also target improving macroeconomic performance of countries. Maastricht Criteria can be an example for this second type and consist of five rules. Two of these rules carry fiscal characteristics while other three rules have economic characteristics. When governments do not obey these rules, in other words, when irregularity occurs, they face various sanctions. In this study, twenty-year performance of four selected countries are examined. In this respect, deviations (if any), are taken into account together with their reasons and the implemented sanctions are analysed. According to the results, it is discussed whether Maastricht Criteria can be a kind of guaranty for the future of the European Union or not.