Medium?term expenditure frameworks: Credible instrument or mirage?

Medium-term expenditure frameworks (MTEFs) are typically viewed as instruments to expand budget horizons beyond one year and limit spending growth over the medium term (usually three five years). In response fiscal crisis EU requirements, many countries in Europe have adopted MTEFs past decade. We use elite interviews examine whether formal enactment of such has led changes actual practices Finland, Austria, Portugal, Ireland. Our analysis shows that newly not acted binding constraints on policy.