On May 22 and 23, 2025, Nico Marienfeld participated in the ZEW Public Finance Conference in Mannheim, which focused on the overarching theme “The Future of the EU Budget.” As part of the conference, he presented recent research findings on the measurement and magnitude of compliance costs associated with tax-based research and development incentives—such as Germany’s research allowance—for businesses. The presented results shed light on the bureaucratic hurdles companies face when accessing such support instruments and their broader economic implications.
In addition to a wide range of engaging presentations and discussions, a particular highlight was the roundtable titled “What is the future of EU Cohesion Policy?”. Mercedes Caballero (Ministry of Finance, Spanien), Päivi Leino-Sandberg (University of Helsinki), Peter Berkowitz (European Commission), and Riccardo Crescenzi (London School of Economics) shared their reflections. Some messages:
-The upcoming decision on the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) will be more difficult than ever, given the new policy challenges (defense, competitiveness) and the rising financial burden of servicing the NextGenerationEU debt.
- There is tension between the narrowly defined Treaty objective of Cohesion Policy and the many new demands on the budget, which pull the policy in different directions.
- Cohesion Policy is an important source of public investment, but its effectiveness depends on national and regional enabling factors.
- There is no consensus that the RRF's approach of providing funds in exchange for the fulfillment of national milestones is a good blueprint for the future of Cohesion Policy.
