Public Financial Management in the European Union

Marta Postuła is Head of the Finance and Accounting Department at the Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw, Poland.

• Introduction 1. Contemporary challenges to the European social and economic policy 2. Macroeconomic coordination policy tools recommended and assessed at EU level3. Public finance management in EU regulations and its effectiveness 4. The evolution of the role, scale and directions of impact of EU funds 5. Identification of domestic, European and global-level tasks as a process that improves their efficiency Conclusion

Marta Postula’s book, Public Financial Management in the European Union, examines public policy implementation at the EU and national levels, based on strategy documents and alignment or misalignment in expenditures with the Community’s goals. Postula reminds readers of the importance of financial management based on transparent, sound terms, ready to meet the challenges of the day. Chapter five offers a simplified way of seeing tasks as domestic, EU-level, and global; this is particularly useful in context of crises like COVID-19, and the figures included brought a welcome visual representation. When activities can be conducted at the domestic level, they should be (for example, in poverty alleviation) and the chapter explains why, for the best, most effective use of public funds. This chapter is perhaps the book’s strongest contribution, though there is much to appreciate about the careful analysis and detailed discussion of the EU’s approaches, vis-à-vis the implementation seen in the Member States, and prospects for the future with the potential for further crises on the horizon. (The book) will be of interest to scholars and practitioners working in EU financial management study, and possibly as reading for a class on this or related topics. — Atkinson, C.L. Theme-based Book Review: Business, Government, and Neoliberalism. Public Organiz Rev 22, 1313–1323 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11115-022-00648-3