CASE kicks off the FIRSTRUN project dedicated to fiscal policy in the EU

On March 1 in Helsinki ETLA, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy  launched the FIRSTRUN project - a European Union funded multinational research project that aims to investigate the need for fiscal policy coordination in the EU, to assess the coherence of the recent reforms in the economic governance framework, and to identify reforms to fill possible gaps in the current EU governance framework.

CASE participates in the project together with six acknowledged international partners: Institute for Advanced Studies (Austria), London School of Economics, LUISS University (Italy), Institute of Economic Research (Slovakia), Centre for European Policy Studies (Belgium), National Institute of Economic and Social Research (UK). The project has been launched by the EC DG Innovation and Research and its leader is the The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (Finland).

CASE’s key task within the project is to provide analysis on the credibility of EU fiscal instruments. CASE will also assist London School of Economics in in-depth case studies of the national implementation of coordination mechanisms.

The project is foreseen for 36 months, started on March 1, 2015 and will end on February 28, 2018.

Interactive website http://www.firstrun.eu/, electronic newsletters and social media communication will accompany the project to help to spread the news about the project’s outcomes to a broader audience.

Moreover, within the FIRSTRUN there will be two Stakeholder Forums arranged: one of them is planned to be organized by ETLA and CASE in Warsaw in February 2017. The aim of the Forum is to review the results of the research and to discuss fiscal coordination with a focus on countries aiming to join the EMU.