Public Finance in the European Union countries

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Public finance has been a matter of constant concern for the EU since its inception. Although this concern is not exclusive to the EU, successive enlargements and Community projects have led to regard public finance as one of the core elements of the economic policy in Europe. The main purpose of this chapter is, therefore, to shed some light on the situation of public finance in the EU Member States and its recent development. Moreover, all through the chapter, the relation between public finance and the economic reality in the EU is analyzed through variables such as development, growth and unemployment. Lastly, taxes distribution in European countries will enable to gain a better understanding of both the relative importance of the public sector in terms of revenues, and those economic concepts on which taxes are levied to a greater or lesser extent