The sovereign debt crisis has resulted in the overhaul of European economic governance: a recent report by European Council President Herman Van Rompuy called for “a genuine economic and monetary union”, indicating the incomplete nature of the governance structure that had initially been in place at the time of the launch of EMU. Though the European dimension has attracted much attention, what of the national dimension? For debtor and creditor countries, the sovereign debt crisis has sparked national debates: on the austerity policies (in debtor countries) and the democratic legitimacy of fiscal transfers across borders (in creditor countries) and notions of solidarity (both).
This workshop examined these national debates in order to better understand the limit and possibilities facing the EU as it struggles to complete EMU. A keynote address was delivered by Pablo Zalba Bidegain, Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee. One panel covered the debtor countries and the politics of austerity and reform, with speakers including George Pagoulatos (Athens University of Economics and Business, College of Europe), David Howarth (University of Luxembourg), Sebastian Royo (University of Suffolk, USA), and Lucia Quaglia (University of York). Another panel will deal with creditor countries, non euro area countries, and the politics of redistribution, featuring Joachim Schild (Trier University), Peter Wierts (Dutch Central Bank), Gabriel Glockler (ECB), and Jim Buller (University of York).