Le programme national de réforme de la Belgique - Effets macroéconomiques de réductions de charges sur le travail [ Working Paper 11-07 - 25/09/2007]

Every three years, each EU  member state is required to set out its political priorities related to economic growth and job creation in  a so-called National Reform Programme ( NRP ). Gauged by the latest medium-term economic outlook produced by the Federal Planning Bureau, compliance with the main macroeconomic objectives contained in the Belgian NRP  will still require sizable efforts, especially regarding the labour market. Furthermore, our analysis shows that reducing social security contributions in order to lower the tax wedge on labour as foreseen in the NRP ,  is efficient in increasing the employment  rate, especially when targeted at low wage earners, but also that such policies have a negative  effect on the objectives related to public finances and CO 2 emissions.