The Evolution of the EU Economic Governance Since the Treaty of Maastricht: An Unfinished Task

Alexandre De Streel 

University of Namur
September 15, 2013

Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, Vol. 20, 2013 
Abstract:      

This paper reviews the evolution of the Economic and Monetary Union from its inception in 1992 with the Treaty of Maastricht to the most recent reforms adopted in 2013 to respond to the eurocrisis. The paper describes the evolution of the four pillar of economic governance: the surveillance and the correction of fiscal imbalances between the Member States which are mainly based on the revised Stability and Growth Pact, the surveillance and the correction of macroeconomic imbalances between the Member States, the coordination of national economic and social policies which now based on the Europe 2020 Strategy for Growth and Jobs, and the financial solidarity between Member States which is currently mainly based on the European Stability Mechanism. The paper also deals with the institutional implications of the EMU evolution with the emergence of an institutional landscape for the euro area. Finally, the paper analyses the implications for the transformation of EU law in terms of sources of law with extensive use of international treaties, recommendations and sui generis contracts between the EU and its Member States, in terms of enforcement mechanisms relying of self-enforcement and peer pressure, and in terms of regulatory model. The paper concludes with grim perspectives claiming that the recent reforms may not be sufficient to make the euro sustainable.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: Economic and Monetary Union, economic governance, eurocrisis, stability and growth pact, Fiscal Compact, European Stability Mechanism

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2363065