A green 'New Deal' to boost Europe

Xavier Timbeau (1)

1 OFCE - Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (Sciences Po)

To exit the Great Recession and initiate the transition towards a low carbon economy, we propose a public-private investment plan in the energetic transition of about 2 points per year of European GDP. The key concept of this plan is the opportunity to reconsider the criteria for public finances using, as the goal of stability a concept of public debt net of created public assets (in percent of GDP), instead of gross public debt. An impartial body (eg the European Commission) could assess ex post and ex ante the value of investments, creating the incentives for coherent and effective public expenditure policies.

Domains: Economics and Finance

Xavier Timbeau. A green 'New Deal' to boost Europe. Revue de l'OFCE, 2014, 134, pp.221-229. ⟨hal-00988414⟩