Public Investment and Discounting in European Union Member States

The formal procedures of public expenditure management vary widely within the European Union. They depend especially on the relative status of institutions. In most member states, operations are delegated to spending ministries or other spending units which have considerable freedom (within tough overall budget constraints) to decide how they meet their objectives; but there are wide variations in the degree of delegation and the incentives for efficiency. Public enterprises, similarly, are seen in some countries as an arm of the public sector and in others as essentially commercial bodies. Some member states have federal structures. Nearly all have complex procedures for funding local municipalities or counties. They differ in their relationships between government and Parliament. They also differ in technical procedures such as budgetary timescales, and methods of accounting for expenditure.