Government often unaware of the impact of billion-euro incentives

Insight into expenditure on tax incentives, special-purpose grants and subsidies

The government spends tens of billions of euros every year in the form of fiscal incentives, special-purpose grants and subsidies to encourage a wide range of developments. This money is shared among hundreds of schemes. In many cases, the government does not know whether these financial instruments have the desired effect. Many of the schemes are not evaluated, not even if they have been in operation for more than five years. The evaluations that have been carried out do not always include an opinion on the effectiveness of the schemes. Nearly a third of the total budget available for these financial instruments has not been subject to the proposals of the civil servant Broad Review working group.