Council Directive 2011/85/EUShow full title

CHAPTER I SUBJECT MATTER AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

This Directive lays down detailed rules concerning the characteristics of the budgetary frameworks of the Member States. Those rules are necessary to ensure Member States’ compliance with obligations under the TFEU with regard to avoiding excessive government deficits.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Directive, the definitions of ‘government’, ‘deficit’ and ‘investment’ set out in Article 2 of the Protocol (No 12) on the excessive deficit procedure annexed to the TEU and to the TFEU shall apply. The definition of sub-sectors of general government set out in point 2.70 of Annex A to Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 shall also apply.

In addition, the following definition shall apply:

‘budgetary framework’ means the set of arrangements, procedures, rules and institutions that underlie the conduct of budgetary policies of general government, in particular:

(a)

systems of budgetary accounting and statistical reporting;

(b)

rules and procedures governing the preparation of forecasts for budgetary planning;

(c)

country-specific numerical fiscal rules, which contribute to the consistency of Member States’ conduct of fiscal policy with their respective obligations under the TFEU, expressed in terms of a summary indicator of budgetary performance, such as the government budget deficit, borrowing, debt, or a major component thereof;

(d)

budgetary procedures comprising procedural rules to underpin the budget process at all stages;

(e)

medium-term budgetary frameworks as a specific set of national budgetary procedures that extend the horizon for fiscal policy-making beyond the annual budgetary calendar, including the setting of policy priorities and of medium-term budgetary objectives;

(f)

arrangements for independent monitoring and analysis, to enhance the transparency of elements of the budget process;

(g)

mechanisms and rules that regulate fiscal relationships between public authorities across sub-sectors of general government.