The euro crisis through two paradigms: interpreting the transformation of the European economic governance

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe euro crisis has put to test the intergovernmental decision-making regime institutionalized by the 2009 Lisbon Treaty for dealing with the economic policy side of the Economic and Monetary Union. Under the pressure of the euro collapse, the heads of state and government have introduced new legal measures and intergovernmental treaties that have radically transformed the European economic governance. How to interpret this transformation? The article discusses two of the main paradigms (liberal intergovernmentalism and neo-functionalism) used by scholars for interpreting the EU, showing their weakness in explaining that transformation. Looking at the euro crisis institutional implications through the two paradigms is a necessary exercise for elaborating a more comprehensive approach to the changes in the European economic governance.