European Economic Governance Structures Post Crisis Brigid Laffan Director Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies www.eui.eu/RSCAS Crises are “open moments”-system changing and system creating CRISIS www.eui.eu/RSCAS WEAK Input Formal Legitimacy EU Legitimacy Output www.eui.eu/RSCAS Social Legal •Audit Political Accountability www.eui.eu/RSCAS Europe’s Compound Polity • Pooled Sovereignty-Divided Accountability • Horizontal and Vertical Accountability • EU- A Marbled Cake Polity www.eui.eu/RSCAS Creating a Genuine EMU One of the guiding principles is that democratic control and accountability should occur at the level at which the decisions are taken. The implementation of this guiding principle is key to ensuring the effectiveness of the integrated financial, budgetary and economic policy frameworks. www.eui.eu/RSCAS ‘’We need more binding and more ambitious rules and commitments for the Euro area Member States. They should reflect that sharing a single currency means sharing responsibility for the Euro area as a hole. They should pave the way for a new quality of cooperation and integration within the Euro area (Letter from Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy to Herman Van Rompuy, 7th December 2011 http://www.ambafranceuk.org/President-Sarkozy-s-press,20171). www.eui.eu/RSCAS Crisis Responses • Crisis Management • Bailouts (4 member states + Spanish banks)/Troika • Politics of austerity and retrenchment • ECB non-standard measures www.eui.eu/RSCAS • Crisis Prevention • Task Force reported in Autumn 2010 – – – – Euro+ Pact Six Pack Legislation Two Pack Fiscal Compact • European Semester • Banking Union www.eui.eu/RSCAS European Semester Ex ante guidance Calendar Approach Horizontal Commission (home work re. aggregate, individual member states, surveillance) Council-CSR www.eui.eu/RSCAS • Vertical • National Finance Ministries • + Governments Parliaments • EP • Six Pack and Semester Introduction of the "economic dialogue". It established the right of EP committees to invite the President of the Council, of the Commission and of the European Council to appear before the committee and discuss coordination and surveillance measures. www.eui.eu/RSCAS • Article 13 TSCG provides for the EP and of national parliaments to "discuss" policies and other issues covered by the TSCG. • National Parliaments • When and how to engage? Political Accountability • Democratic politics-incumbents and traditional parties under pressure • Challenger parties +Electoral Volatility • Eurozone- a low trust regime • The Politics of Constrained Choice www.eui.eu/RSCAS www.eui.eu/RSCAS www.eui.eu/RSCAS • Fiscal Consolidation Need for Balance Flexibility • Structural Reform Politicisation • Growth and Employment www.eui.eu/RSCAS