Reporting SEC 2010 pour les pouvoirs publics belges : en quoi est-il utile et utilisé ?

Abstract

This document studies the managerial challenges of a system of national accounts on the general government sector.

In the European Union, multiple rules are introduced to monitor the public finances of Member States. These provisions allow for a supranational surveillance on national budgetary policies and a control of public deficit and debt. Each year, Member States must notify the European Commission of their public deficit and debt. The TFEU obliges EU Member States to comply with budgetary discipline by respecting two criteria: a deficit to GDP ratio and a debt to GDP ratio not exceeding reference values of 3% and 60% respectively. These references were first foreseen in the Treaty of Maastricht for the creation of Euro. Since then, a number of different provisions have been added to the European regulatory framework in the area of public finances, all key elements of the budgetary strategies that must be presented in the stability and convergence programs and approved by the European Commission.

The reference values for deficit and debt are based on concepts defined in the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010). Government units must periodically provide data relevant to the preparation of deficit and debt figures. The provision of government data useful to European bodies is a long and complex process. It is that process that we want to illustrate in this end of study dissertation. However, we want to go beyond the provision of data in order to bring the use and usefulness of ESA reporting to light. This study will be conducted on the Belgian government sector. The research problem of our study is thus set out as follows:

ESA 2010 reporting in the case of the Belgian general government – To what extent is it useful and used?

This dissertation consists in an exploratory study aimed at different levels of Belgian governments. We have tried to address the problem taking into account multiple perspectives, from the federal governments to the local ones. This way, we will be able to determine if and how ESA has modified public finance management, and if it has modified the management in different governments in the same way.