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6.COUNTRYSELECTIONCRITERIACASESTUDIES
offiscalconsolidationanddiscipliningpublicfinancesbythiscountry0Hungary,as
earlyasintheyearofjoiningtheEuropeanUnion(2004),wassubjecttotheExcessive
deficitprocedure0What’smore,inthenextyearthedeficitreachedarecordvalue
exceeding9%ofGDP
0ThebudgetdeficitofHungaryremainedatdifferentlevelsin
thesubsequentyears,exceedingthebaserate(3%ofGDP),andtheExcessivedeficit
procedureofthiscountrywasclosednotearlierthanin20110Previousattemptsmade
byHungariangovernmentsoftheirowninitiativeandasaresultoftheEuropean
Unionrecommendationswereunsuccessful0ThecaseofHungaryisnoteworthyalso
duetotheradicallydifferentapproachtotheeconomyandpublicfinancesofvarious
teamsexercisingauthorityduringtheresearchperiod0Hungarybelongstothosecoun-
triesthathavebeenpursuinganactiveconsolidationpolicyinthesphereoffinances,
notonlyontheexpenditureside,butaboveallontherevenueside0Itshouldalsobe
emphasizedthatthetaxpolicyofthiscountryhasbecomethesubjectofsharpcon-
troversiesanddisputeswiththeauthoritiesoftheEuropeanUnion0Theexample
ofHungaryisthereforealsointerestingfromthepointofviewoftheassessmentof
therelationshipbetweenthenationalfiscalauthoritiesandEUinstitutionsandtheir
functioninginthecontextofadisputewithamemberstate0Theanalysisofthesitua-
tionofHungaryandmeasurestakentodisciplinepublicfinancesisalsoimportant
becauseitsassessmentrequiresanin-depthanalysisandcomparisonofnationalpro-
grammesforrestructuringtheeconomyandfiscalconsolidationwithEUguidelines
intermsoftheirconsistency0
ChoosingPolandasanothercountryanalysedbythecasestudymethoddoesnot
requireabroaderargumentation0Poland,likeHungary,joinedtheEuropeanUnionin
2004andthroughouttheentireperiodunderconsideration,exceptfortheepisode
in2008wassubjecttotheExcessivedeficitprocedure,whichendedonlyin20150
Duringthisperiod,anumberofinitiativeswereundertakentobringthelevelofdefi-
cittothebasevalue0Themeasuresappliedbyourcountrywerevaried0Someofthem
referredonlytofiscaltools,buttheirusewascontroversialintermsofconsistency0
Intheexaminedperiod,thepersonalincometax,socialinsurancecontributionswere
reduced,theninviewofthedeterioratingstateofpublicfinancesthesocialin-
surancecontributionswererestoredagainandatthesametimethebasicandreduced
goodsandservicestaxrate(VAT)wasraisedrespectivelyto23%and8%0Reducing
taxrevenuesevenbeforethefinancialcrisis(2007),clearlyexperiencedinPolandonly
in2009,wasacontroversialstep,themoresoasatthesametimethepolicyofbudget
expenditurecutsbegantobeimplementedaswell0Ontheexpendituresideofpublic
finances,themostimportantmeasurewasthereformofthepensionsystemin2014,
whichundoubtedlyfavouredthereductionofthebudgetdeficitand,consequently,
theendingoftheEDP
0Thisoperationalsocausedasignificantdropinthepublic
debt-to-GDPratiobelow50%0Otherimportantstructuralreformsaffectingboththe
revenueandexpendituresidein2014weretheextensionoftheperiodofprofessional
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