Experts from France, The United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Sweden as well as from International organizations (European Commission, OECD and International Monetary Fund) will meet in Rome, Thursday 10th and Friday 11th July 2008 at the workshop on "Budget discipline and Public sector efficiency",

organized by the Research Division of the Ragioneria Generale dello Stato. Works will start at 9.15 a.m., at the Polo multifunzionale in Via Pastrengo 1. The aim of the workshop is to provide a contribution to the improvement of the design and implementation of instruments for public finance control and management. National experts will discuss their countries' experience and economists from International organizations will broaden the picture and provide an alternative point of view, based on their long-standing research activities and analyses on public finance. Budget procedures, fiscal rules, efficiency and control of public expenditure, fiscal decentralization, funding of public services, are some of the main issues that will be assessed. All invited countries have dealt with these issues in different ways on the basis of their specific historical, social and economic situation. The programme foresees an introduction by the State General Accountant, Mario

Canzio, and thereafter the interventions of Biagio Mazzotta (Research Division RGS); Richard Knox (Treasury, UK); Amèlie Verdier (Ministry of the Budget, France); Klaus Feiler (Budget Policy Department, City of Berlin); Jurgen Schneider (Ministry of Finance, Germany); Jaime Iglesias, Javier Monzò (Ministry of Finance, Spain); Maaike Adema (Budget Policy Department, The Netherlands); Daniel Bergvall (Ministry of Finance, Sweden); Lucio Pench, Sven Langedijk (European Commission); Jon Blondal (OECD); Richard Hemming (International Monetary Fund).