Crisis Management in the EU, Prospects for the De-politicisation of Economic Policy

Abstract

The central question of the study is whether the reforms of European economic governance will resolve the problems which led to the current financial crisis. First, the responses to the crisis will be examined and then the paper will consider those proposals, which have been rejected so far as resolution for the crisis. By analysing the accepted and rejected measures, we can observe the strengthening of supranational technocratic decision-making at the cost of democracy at the national level. The limitations of such arrangements are illustrated by the experiences of Greek crisis management. The main conclusion of the study is that although economic arguments are very strong in favour of the creation of a fiscal union, a political economy perspective reveals that the success of such a union is strongly dependent on internal commitment to financial responsibility and external pressure cannot be a substitute for it.