The High Council of Public Finances (HCFP) is an independent fiscal oversight body created by the Organic Law 2012-1403 in December 2012 by the

french government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

in the framework

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

budgetary coordination. Its aim is to evaluate the assumptions made by the government in relation to the budgets and to ensure the coherence of public finances with the European budgetary agreements and pacts to which France is party. The HCFP operates under the responsibility of the

Court of Audit A Court of Audit or Court of Accounts is a Supreme audit institution, i.e. a government institution performing financial and/or legal audit (i.e. Statutory audit or External audit) on the executive branch of power. See also *Most of those in ...

Legal basis

The HCFP operates under the authority granted to it by; * Organic Law 2012-1403 on public finances governance * European Budgetary Pact

Objective

The HCFP reports of the following variables used by the government when setting the budget; * GDP growth rate * Revenues & Spending by central & local government and public bodies * Revenues & Spending of the Social Security system * Deviations between previous year forecasts and assumptions and outcomes

Members

The membership comprises 11 members who are not remunerated. Four members are magistrates of the Court of Auditors, four members are designated by; * the president of the national Assembly * the president of the Senate * the president of the Finance Commission of the National Assembly * the president of the Finance Commission of the Senate One member is designated by the President of the Economics, Social & Environment Council. Members serve a single 5-year term with the exception of Court of Auditor magistrates who may serve a second term.

International coordination

The HCFP is a member of the

EU Independent Fiscal Institutions Network The EU Independent Fiscal Institutions Network (EU IFIs) is a voluntary and inclusive institution open to all independent fiscal oversight bodies operating in the EU. It provides a platform to exchange views, expertise and pool resources in areas ...

set up by the EU in September 2015.

References

External links

* ww.hcfp.fr/ Official web of HCFP

External links

{{Economic integration Government agencies established in 2012 Eurozone Policy and political reactions to the Eurozone crisis Fiscal federalism 2015 in the European Union Multi-speed Europe