Words of appreciation
The work on quality of public finances that is summarised in this collection of papers reflects the joint
efforts by all members of the Working Group. Even if only an excerpt of papers can be shown here,
we are most grateful to all contributors to the Working Group since 2004. While we cannot name all
people individually, let us nevertheless point out some who have been instrumental in setting up the
Working Group and advancing its work. From the European Commission, we are particularly grateful
to Elena Flores Gual, Fabienne Ilzkowitz, Joaquim Ayoso Casals, Giuseppe Carone, Adriaan Dierx,
Ulrike Mandl, Laurent Moulin, Gaëtan Nicodème, Jan-Host Schmidt and Peter Wierts, who have been
key contributors by providing numerous important issues notes and advancing the discussions over
time. From the EPC, we would like to thank Heinz Scherrer and Olaf Prüßmann for their excellent
support to help keep the Working Group stay on track. We also greatly appreciate the ongoing support
from the European Central Bank and particularly from António Afonso whose conceptual work has
given indispensable stimulus to the Working Group. From Eurostat, our thanks go to Eduardo Barredo
Capelot and his team for the instrumental work on COFOG data. In that respect, our special thanks
also go to Raffaele Malizia (Italian participant in the Working Group) for the comprehensive work on
indicator developments based on COFOG and Werner Ebert and Tanja Burckardt (Ministry of
Finance, Germany) who played an important role in developing the conceptual and strategic work of
the Working Group.
Last but not least, we would like to thank the team that has made the publication of this collection of
papers possible. We are greatly indebted to Werner Ebert and Andrea Schaechter as the project leaders
who have assembled this book in a very short period of time. They received excellent editorial
assistance by Anna Rauch, help by Olaf Prüßmann and support in the production process by
Dominique Marchalant.
Brussels, 5 February 2008 Servaas Deroose
Christian Kastrop