The UK must send an assessment of its economic position to the European Union. Parliament is required to approve the documents which form the basis of this assessment.
Economic Assessments for the European Union (294 KB , PDF)
The European Union requires member states to submit information on their medium-term economic and fiscal position, known as their convergence programme. This requirement applies to the UK until the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020. The exercise is based on rules in the EU’s stability and growth pact, which aims to ensure that member states maintain sound public finances.
Both Houses of Parliament must approve the documents on which the UK’s assessment is based. The motion states that these documents are the spring 2020 budget and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) Economic and Fiscal Outlook and Fiscal Sustainability Report. HM Treasury has also published a separate convergence programme based on these documents.
The budget and OBR publications do not fully reflect the impact of coronavirus (Covid-19). The budget, published on 11 March, contained some measures in response to the virus, but these have since been significantly expanded. The Economic and Fiscal Outlook was finalised in February 2020, before the effects of the virus, or the Government’s response to it, were known. The Fiscal Sustainability Report was published in 2018.
On 5 May 2020, Lord True (Conservative) is due to move that “the virtual proceedings do consider Her Majesty’s Government’s assessment of the medium-term economic and fiscal position as set out in the latest budget document and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s most recent Economic and Fiscal Outlook and Fiscal Sustainability Report, which forms the basis of the United Kingdom’s convergence programme”.
Economic Assessments for the European Union (294 KB , PDF)
This briefing is the fifth of a series on the post-war history of the UK economy. The series proceeds decade-by-decade from the 1950s onwards, providing an overview of the key macroeconomic developments of each decade. This fifth briefing looks at the 1990s. In this decade the UK economy settled into a period of low inflation and steady growth; however, living standards growth was lower and more regionally concentrated than in previous decades.
The Budget Responsibility Bill would require ministers to request an assessment from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) for every major fiscal announcement and give the OBR the power to decide to publish one if the minister failed to request it. This follows the September 2022 ‘mini-budget’. The statement included plans that would have resulted in a projected £45bn reduction in tax income. It did not have an accompanying OBR assessment.
In November 2023, the Harrington review of foreign direct investment made recommendations about how the UK could attract more cross-border investment. The new Labour government has said tackling barriers to investment is a priority.
