Event

The European Union’s Fiscal Constitution: Budget, Own Resources and the Power to Tax

  • Location

    Weicker Building

    4, rue Alphonse Weicker

    2721, Luxembourg, Luxembourg

  • Topic(s)
    Law
  • Type(s)
    Free of charge, In-person event, Lectures and seminars

This conference is organised by the Department of Law of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance of the University of Luxembourg and the Robert Schuman Initiative (RSI) with the support of the Erasmus + Programme of the European Commission.

Abstract

This conference explores the evolving contours of the European Union’s fiscal constitution, focusing on the interplay between the EU budget, own resources, and the Union’s emerging capacity to raise revenue. Against the backdrop of recent crises and transformative policy developments, most notably the NextGenerationEU instrument, the reform of fiscal governance, and new own resources proposals, the conference brings together leading scholars to examine the legal, economic, and constitutional dimensions of fiscal integration in the European Union.

The conference will engage with key structural questions of fiscal federalism, exploring the constitutional architecture of EU fiscal powers, the implications of common debt issuance, and comparative perspectives on the design of revenue systems in multi-level systems. It will trace the evolution of fiscal governance in the European Union, with particular attention to the shifting balance between discipline, solidarity, and sovereignty, the ongoing transformation of the Stability and Growth Pact, and the expanding role of financial assistance instruments.

At the same time, the conference reflects on the changing role of the EU budget, from its traditional focus on cohesion policy to its increasing involvement in areas such as defence and external action, thereby highlighting its growing strategic significance in the pursuit of broader policy objectives. It also addresses fundamental questions concerning the EU’s power to tax and the future of own resources, examining both the constitutional limits of EU fiscal authority and the prospects for deeper fiscal integration.

By bringing together perspectives from law, economics, and political science, the conference aims to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of the EU’s fiscal constitution at a time of significant transformation, and to reflect on its implications for the future of European integration.

Language

English.

This is a free event. Registration is mandatory.

Programme

  • 09.00 – 09.10

    Welcome,

    Dr. Katerina Pantazatou (University of Luxembourg)

  • 09.10 – 10.30

    Fiscal Federalism and Fiscal Union(s)

    Chair: Dr. Katerina Pantazatou (University of Luxembourg)

    Speakers:

    • Prof. Gianluigi Bizioli (University of Bergamo): ‘The Constitutional Architecture of the European Union Fiscal Federalism’
    • Prof. David Howarth (University of Luxembourg): ‘A Union of debt?’
    • Dr. Ricardo Garcia Anton (Tilburg University): ‘Comparative Federalism and the Design of the EU Revenue side’

  • 10.30 – 11.00

    Coffee Break

  • 11.00 – 12.45

    Fiscal Governance in the EU: Discipline, Solidarity and Sovereignty

    Chair: Prof. David Howarth (University of Luxembourg)

    Speakers:

    • Dr. Maria Antonia Panasci (Mercatorum University): ‘NGEU and the Transformation of the EU Fiscal Constitution’
    • Dr. Klaus Tuori and Dr. Fernando Losada (University of Luxembourg): ‘The green dimension of financial assistance in the EU’
    • Prof. Christos Gortsos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens): ‘The asymmetry between the ‘Economic’ and the ‘Monetary’ in the EMU’ (online)
    • Dr. Frédéric Allemand (University of Luxembourg): ‘Between Discipline, Solidarity and Sovereignty: The SGP and the EU’s New Fiscal Toolbox’

  • 12.45 – 14.00

    Lunch break

  • 14.00 – 15.30

    The use of the EU budget: From cohesion policy to EU defence

    Chair: Prof. Eleftheria Neframi (University of Luxembourg)

    Speakers:

    • Dr. Thibault Martinelli (University of Salzburg): ‘Cohesion in the Next MFF: Structural Funds and the Transformation of the EU Budgetary Architecture’
    • Dr. Luigi Lonardo (University of Luxembourg): ‘Support loans and the EU’s external policy’
    • Dr. Rosalba Famà (New York University & Bocconi University): ‘Financing the EU defence – the SAFE instrument and the expanding role of the EIB’ (online)

  • 15.30 – 16.00

    Coffee break

  • 16.00 – 17.30

    The EU’s power to tax and own resources

    Chair: Prof. Gianluigi Bizioli (University of Bergamo)

    Speakers:

    • Dr. Martha Caziero (Tilburg University): ‘The EU’s power to tax’
    • Dr. Sam van der Vlugt (Erasmus University Rotterdam): ‘The new own resources proposals and the way forward’
    • Dr. Tomasz Woźniakowski (University of Wrocław): ‘Taxing Powers and Political Union: The Constitutional Future of the European Union’
In collaboration with

This conference is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

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