by Daniela Schwarzer The fact that the crises hit the euro area so hard revealed fundamental flaws in the architecture of the currency union. The absence of joint fiscal and economic policies or transnational budgetary stabilisation mechanisms are two of them. In response to the crisis, the EU decided to reinforce rule-based, technocratic coordination both…

by Daniela Schwarzer More and more, the debate in Europe is turning towards the question whether we are facing a crisis of legitimacy or even democracy in the EU – on top of the banking and sovereign debt crisis. In this and two following blog posts I am developing some thoughts on the challenges national…

by Ferdi De Ville Thus is the subtitle of the Communication from the European Commission ‘A blueprint for a deep and genuine economic and monetary union’ presented by President Barroso on 28 November. Without the question mark, of course. But I put it there, because it remains to be seen if this long document full…

by Daniela Schwarzer One of the important debates ahead of the EU summit in December is the one on a potential future eurozone budget. There are many competing ideas around what to do with a potential eurozone budget and how to shape it. There are as many good reasons to equip the European Monetary Union…

by Ferdi De Ville Right at the time that the euro crisis had begun (to the relief of decision makers) to retreat from the front pages of newspapers, in Belgium the Ford Genk tragedy happened. The decision of the Ford Europe board to close the plant in the Flemish province of Limburg, making 10.000 workers…

by Carsten Brzeski With three meetings in less than two weeks, eurozone finance ministers hope to finally strike a deal on giving Greece more time for its adjustment. The decisive phase for Greece has started. Yesterday, Eurogroup president Juncker announced an unscheduled meeting of eurozone finance ministers on 8 November. With the scheduled conference call…

by Ferdi De Ville Since the outbreak of the euro crisis, many observers, including yours truly, have lamented the lack of vision in the way European leaders have dealt with the eurozone’s problems. While their strategy of muddling through has until now succeeded in preventing the break-up of the euro area, many opinion makers argue…

by Daniela Schwarzer Since 2010, the EU has undergone two closely intertwined developments: firstly, the day-to-day management of the sovereign debt crisis with many steps taken ‘overnight’ as a matter of urgency and, secondly, governance reforms which have already changed the functioning of the EMU. This latter debate has developed considerably during these last three…