Le Bureau parlementaire du budget dans l’expérience italienne

The article examines the introduction of the Parliamentary Budget Office into the Italian legal system. This figure is already present in other countries and habitually included in the category of fiscal councils. First of all, the discussion elaborates on the factors which later led to the constitutional reform of 2012 and to amend art. 81 of the Constitution, thus introducing the principle of budgetary balance. This preliminary survey is followed by a presentation of the regulatory sources governing the Office and an examination of its collegial structure. The article contains an illustration of the functions and activities of the Office, both "on paper" and on the basis of what actually took place up to the first months of 2018. Finally, the study closes with some reflections about the potential of the Office in matters of accountability of the decision-making process in the field of public finance