CONSOLIDATION OF FISCAL EFFORTS AND INTERGOVERNMENTAL COORDINATION IN THE CONTEXT OF CRISES AND CONFLICTS OF THE MODERN WORLD

Abstract

The article is devoted to the topical issues of consolidation of fiscal efforts and intergovernmental coordination in the context of crises and conflicts in the modern world. In an interconnected world, the consequences of wars and conflicts often reverberate beyond national borders. It is clear that the challenges posed by the pandemic and global conflict in recent years have significantly affected the trajectory of fiscal policy, fiscal consolidation and intergovernmental coordination in the affected countries and around the world. Although the global economic outlook is stabilising, fiscal policy continues to grapple with the legacy of high debt and deficits, while facing new challenges. Financing conditions remain difficult, while the cost pressures of addressing structural problems are becoming more pronounced. The article analyses and systemises the reasons, necessity factors and challenges of consolidating fiscal efforts within the European community. The European experience of using the common fiscal potential to support security and democracy in the current environment is studied, and the problems of governance and constitutional limitations that seriously undermine the ability to increase fiscal capacity and respond to geopolitical challenges are outlined. It is emphasised that fiscal efforts depend not only on the coordinated actions of supranational entities and central governments, but also on the capacity of local governments, which, in conditions of uncertainty and threats, experience the most destructive impact in ensuring the quality of public needs. The author proves the role of local governments in wartime and notes that the problems of effective financial resource management should determine the solutions and conditions for cooperation at the supranational, national and local levels, which will meet the immediate needs for reconstruction and promote long-term recovery and sustainability in Ukraine. Understanding the determinants of the gaps in the mechanism of budgetary support for local development and the implications for sustainable community development, it is important to strengthen the financial capacity of local governments in the strategic guidelines of the state's role. Finally, high-quality and sustainable horizontal and vertical inter-municipal coordination, a system of control and the creation of a mechanism for monitoring the legitimacy of local government decisions, the involvement of local communities in key regional and local policies, and the definition of criteria for the formation of capable territorial communities, taking into account military challenges and the requirements of European integration, are also key to effective conflict management at the local government level in Ukraine.