The German sustainability strategy contains a total of three indicators on fiscal policy. All three indicators refer to the so-called convergence rules of the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and the European Stability and Growth Pact of 1997. The indicator described here measures the government's structural deficit in relation to gross domestic product at current prices. A government's structural deficit is the part of the government deficit (or surplus) that is not attributable to cyclical or short-term effects.

According to the Maastricht Treaty, the target value for the structural deficit is 0.5% or less of gross domestic product.

For indicators without a set baseline by the German Sustainability Strategy, 2030Watch uses the 2008 baseline of the EU 2020 Strategy.

This is an official indicator of the German Sustainability Strategy.