Are European fiscal rules that bad? Discretionary fiscal policies in New Member States

There is no clear-cut evidence on how the adoption of the European fiscal standards influences discretionary fiscal policies within the Member States. This study investigates that phenomenon on the example of the 2004 enlargement. The results show that the effects of the adoption of EU fiscal rules bring a statistically significant change towards more countercyclical behavior. The results are robust for different model specifications, including alternative time spans and correcting for the possible influence of the financial crises and political forces. Interestingly, the year 2004 did not have any significant impact on the change in fiscal policies in the Old Member States, suggesting that the EU entry might motivate new members to run more prudent budgetary policies.