Minimum Standards and Strengthening the Mandates of national IFIs

A recent paper published by the EU Network of Independent Fiscal Institutions called for an enhanced role for national IFIs in the EU governance framework, both as a way of strengthening fiscal policy institutions at national level and to make greater use of their capacity at EU level.

This calls for measures to reinforce the institutional underpinnings of national IFIs, particularly in countries where the resources, institutional design, and mandate of the IFIs is currently relatively limited. 

Setting out minimum standards at the EU level for the governance of national IFIs and their mandates would support the role of national IFIs. While it is vital that national IFIs have strong national ownership and their roles will continue to vary according to the national context, a minimum set of standards and mandates would help all countries to reap the benefits of sound fiscal governance. These measures are required to help support a wider role of national IFIs in the fiscal governance at the EU level, as set out in a companion note on “Enhancing the contribution of national IFIs at EU level”

This note sets out more detailed proposals regarding minimum standards and mandates. Raising the minimum standards would be required to ensure that all institutions can deliver the proposed extension of the minimum mandates, particularly with respect to the resources of IFIs and their access to information.