Monetary union and the stakes for democracy and social policy

Abstract

The democratic and social aspects of the new European governance are not really separable. In the 1970s monetary union was seen as the successful culmination of political and social integration; subsequently, it was regarded as the trigger for such integration. Finally, the Maastricht Treaty opted for monetary union in the absence of political union, on a basis of rule-based governance for the public finances and with social policy playing the role of shock absorber. Since 2008 the crises in the euro area have shown that this route does not lead to increased convergence and their result has been to exacerbate the dismantling of social models. Today the question of political integration has come once again to the surface, albeit accompanied so far by scant democratic debate. The authors of this contribution consider that EMU will never be stable in the absence of real debate on the varying options and of a strengthening of the European social model.