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While the Single European Market allows full mobility of capital and workers, fiscal policies remain in the hands of national authorities on account of the subsidiary principle. Fiscal competition among EU members may thus produce many harmful effects. To avert them, fiscal policies could be either harmonized or coordinated. It is the latter that has been favoured by the European Commission.Amélie Barbier-Gauchard, Ph.D in economy, is assistant professor at the Faculté des Sciences économiques et de gestion de l'Université Louis Pasteur (Strasbourg 1) and scientific advisor at the Centre d'analyse stratégique. She works mainly on the macroeconomic aspects of european integration and more specifically on european public finance.