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As we feel the limits of our planet, governments must mobilise their regulatory toolkit and all the public resources required for the sustainable transition, to ensure economic resilience and the prosperity of future generations. This means upgrading infrastructure, health and educational systems and supporting the citizens affected by the economic transition.

Public deficits will likely increase, but paradoxically, they are indispensable for public debt sustainability in the long run, and financial markets know it. Public money is required to crowd in private investment and a failure to invest will result in much bigger future fiscal imbalances due to unmitigated climate change and loss of economic and social resilience.

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20 PUBLICATIONS

Joint statement

04/11/2024

Public Finance

Joint Statement – Public Money, Public Benefits: Clear social and environmental standards must determine businesses’ access to public finance in the EU

Public finance plays a critical role in shifting Europe’s economy towards quality jobs, decarbonisation, and circularity. To achieve this, public support for businesses must be dependent on a harmonised set of social...
Joint statement

25/09/2024

Public Finance

Joint letter – Europe needs a Next Generation 2.0 fund to secure its just transition

The imminent end of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) will leave a critical gap in EU funding for essential climate, social, and biodiversity investments. Finance Watch, as part of the FiscalMatters...
Report

16/07/2024

Public Finance

Report – Europe’s coming investment crisis: Capital markets can only match a third of EU’s essential needs

In these times of hardship, Europe’s financing channels – even with the full strength of capital markets – would only match a third of the EU’s essential investment needs. Finance Watch’s new...
Open letter

15/04/2024

Public Finance

Agreement on fiscal rules stands in the way of EU strategic autonomy – Joint letter

In a joint letter to the European Council signed by more 60 civil Society organisations, trade unions, think tanks and academics, the Fiscal Matters coalition, of which Finance Watch is a member,...
Joint statement

25/03/2024

Public Finance

Joint statement – Fiscal Follies: How new EU rules miss the mark on climate and prosperity

In the joint statement below, co-signed by 8 organisations, Finance Watch warns that fiscal adjustment requirements under the new EU spending rules are incompatible with solving Europe’s challenges and calls on EU...
Report

10/07/2023

Public Finance

Report – The debts we need: Reinforcing Debt Sustainability with Future-Oriented Fiscal Rules

Misinformed fear about financial markets and debt sustainability has clouded the debate on Europe’s new fiscal rules. This report unveils interactions between European financial markets and sovereign debt and proposes reforms to...
Joint statement

17/04/2023

Public Finance

Joint Statement – Reaction to Germany’s pushback on debt rules

Finance Watch co-publishes today a joint statement reacting to the proposal from Germany, backed by other so-called “frugal” governments, for a common hard debt reduction rule. This contradicts the logic of the...
Policy brief

21/02/2023

Public Finance

Joint Policy Brief – “Investing in our Future: Seven EU economic governance reforms”

Finance Watch co-publishes today a civil society briefing on how to ensure a reformed European economic governance framework supports the EU’s goals and helps tackling Europe’s multiple crises.
Policy brief

04/11/2022

Public Finance

Policy Brief – “Europe’s Fiscal Framework: The People’s View?”

Excessive public spending cuts in the European Union since 2009 have contributed to making citizens €3.000 a year worse-off, according to a new policy brief from the New Economics Foundation and Finance...
Policy brief

15/06/2022

Public Finance

Policy Brief – “From Maastricht to Paris: Why climate change should be considered in a reformed EU fiscal framework”

Thirty years after the Maastricht treaty and twelve years after the Paris agreement, connections between climate change, debt sustainability, and the reform of the EU economic governance are often overlooked. This joint...
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The blog corner

Public Finance

Level:Regular

02.12.2024

On the Capital Markets Union. A conversation with Finance Watch’s Chief Economist, Thierry Philipponnat

Public Finance

Level:Regular

26.11.2024

The cost of action and the cost of inaction: genuinely incorporating the environment into the budget debate

Public Finance

Level:Regular

15.10.2024

The trillion-euro problem: how to meet Europe’s investment needs
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