European Watchdogs in Public Finances as Replicas of the Corresponding National Institutions: Reflection on the Implications for the EU Multi-level System

The aim on this paper is to undertake an assessment of the two EU watchdogs in the field of Public Finances - the ECA and the EFB - including of the respective competences, independence and relations with the political bodies, making, on the one hand, a comparison with the corresponding national institutions and, on the other hand, a comparison between themselves, regarding the aspects mentioned. The objective is to examine how these European watchdogs replicate the role of surveillance and accountability that the corresponding national institutions perform today, trying to interpret the significance this has regarding the distribution of competences in matters of public finance between the decision-making levels involved. The strengthening of EU competences with fiscal/budgetary implications, as seen in recent years and which may accelerate in the coming years (to address e.g. common public goods), favours the strengthening of these two watchdogs within the Public Finance multilevel system.

Keywords: European Court of Auditors; European Fiscal Board; Supreme Audit Institutions; Independent Fiscal Institutions; public finances; fiscal policy