Public finances in Europe: fortifying EU economic governance in the shadow of the crisis

Laffan, Brigid; Schlosser, Pierre

doi:10.1080/07036337.2016.1140158

Cited by 65 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Although an increasing number of studies have examined how fiscal governance reforms at the European level came about (Ioannou et al, ; Laffan and Schlosser, ) and how to interpret their nature within the framework of EU integration (Dawson, ; Fabbrini, ; Schimmelfennig, ), there has been limited research on how these reforms have actually influenced budget processes and practices in the member states. While some studies have discussed the resulting increased role of the European Commission in EU economic and fiscal governance (Bauer and Becker, ) and the impacts of these reforms on national parliaments (Crum, : Dawson, ; Hallerberg et al, ), no comparative studies have systematically examined the effects of these reforms on the budgetary processes of member states.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Crises and European Fiscal Governance Reforms on the Budgetary Processes of Member States

Raudla

Bur

Keel

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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The goal of this article was to explore how the experience of the crisis and the fiscal governance reforms at the European level have influenced budget processes in member states. Drawing on the Europeanization, fiscal governance and pubic crisis management literature, the article first outlines a series of propositions about the kinds of shifts in the budget process that we would expect to ensue from the crisis experience and European reforms. The empirical part of our article explores the validity of those theoretical conjectures in three different member states: Portugal, Austria and Finland. We found that the crisis experience and European reforms have led to increased centralization of the budgetary process in all three countries. Although we would have expected Austria and Portugal to move closer towards the contracts approach of fiscal governance, this has not happened as the medium-term expenditure frameworks are not viewed as binding.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Crises and European Fiscal Governance Reforms on the Budgetary Processes of Member States

Raudla

Bur

Keel

2019

J of Common Market Studies

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“…With the approval of the two legislative packages known as the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack, for the first time the EP had the opportunity to shape the rules of the EMU.The literature has provided very different assessments of the role of the EP in the reform of the EMU. On the one hand, the EP has traditionally not shied away from using its powers as a colegislator (Corbett et al, 2016); with its new legislative powers, several scholars observed that the EP's impact has indeed been significant (Fasone, 2013;Héritier and Schoeller, 2015;Laffan and Schlosser, 2016). Even advocates of the 'new intergovernmentalism' recognise that the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack are an exception to their story (Fabbrini, 2013).…”

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confidence: 99%

The European Parliament and economic governance: explaining a case of limited influence

Bressanelli

Chelotti

2018

The Journal of Legislative Studies

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acting [together] in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, may adopt detailed rules for the multilateral surveillance procedure'. With the outbreak of the economic and financial crisis, the EP made immediate use of its new powers. The reform of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) was negotiated under the ordinary legislative procedure (OLP) and, between September 2010 and February 2013, the EP and the Council established new rules for budgetary surveillance and macroeconomic coordination. With the approval of the two legislative packages known as the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack, for the first time the EP had the opportunity to shape the rules of the EMU.The literature has provided very different assessments of the role of the EP in the reform of the EMU. On the one hand, the EP has traditionally not shied away from using its powers as a colegislator (Corbett et al., 2016); with its new legislative powers, several scholars observed that the EP's impact has indeed been significant (Fasone, 2013;Héritier and Schoeller, 2015;Laffan and Schlosser, 2016). Even advocates of the 'new intergovernmentalism' recognise that the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack are an exception to their story (Fabbrini, 2013). On the other hand, other scholars noted that the EP was not very successful in pushing its preferences through, particularly on economic issues (Bressanelli and Chelotti, 2016;O'Keeffe, Salines and Wieczorek, 2016).This article presents an in-depth study of the influence of the EP in the Six-Pack and the Two-Pack.It has both descriptive and explanatory purposes. Descriptively, it aims to provide a systematic map of the negotiations focusing on the key controversies -i.e. important issues where the actors have different positions (Thomson, 2011, p. 29). To assess the EP's influence, we compare its position before starting the negotiations with the Council to the initial legislative proposals and the final legislative output. i This is complemented by an account of the genesis of the two packages. We anticipate here that the EP's influence has been modest at best. In the second part of the paper, we 2 explain this puzzling finding. Relying on rational and sociological institutionalism, we show that the more favourable BATNA of the Council could explain the outcome of the Two-Pack, and a norm of responsibility triggered by the crisis could account for the limited impact of the EP on the Six-Pack. Yet, we are not fully satisfied by the extant explanations, and advance a new, additional hypothesis. We suggest that in policy areas close to 'core state powers' (Genschel and Jachtenfuchs, 2013), like budgetary surveillance, the Member States still play a primary role, and the EP finds itself acting within the boundaries that they define. Our policy-based explanation contends that the EMU -and, possibly, other policies close to core state powers -have their own dynamics, where the Member States are still the 'masters', and the EP has a more subordinate position. While we do not completely dismiss the importance of the f...

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“…Previous research has shown that the economic crisis had an important impact on different EU policies (Falkner 2016(Falkner , 2017. Paradigmatic policy changes leading to enhanced supranationalisation have been especially common in policy fields that are regarded as crucial to the European economy, such as public finances or banking regulation (Laffan and Schlosser 2016;Kudrna 2016). In light of this, it is important to point out that public procurement, which nowadays represents approximately 14% of EU GDP, is lucrative.…”

Section: The Economic Crisis As a Critical Juncture?mentioning

confidence: 99%

EU public procurement policy: the economic crisis as trigger for enhanced harmonisation

Pircher

2019

Journal of European Integration

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While previous research on the impact of the economic crisis on EU policy has primarily focused on the internal market and financial market regulations, the effect on public procurement has so far been neglected. This lack of attention is surprising. Public procurement accounts for approximately 14% of the EU GDP and involves over 250.000 contracting public authorities. Therefore, procurement is considered essential for lifting the EU out of the crisis by promoting competitiveness and growth. Nevertheless, public procurement reflects contradictory developments. Whereas the European Commission strives for greater harmonisation, member states often focus on national priorities. By comparing the old and new procurement regimes through the lenses of historic institutionalism, this article demonstrates that the EU managed to enhance harmonisation despite tendencies of increased national protectionism. The article finds that procurement became a much more prominent policy instrument for greater market integration subsequent to the economic crisis.

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Public finances in Europe: fortifying EU economic governance in the shadow of the crisis

Cited by 65 publications

References 12 publications

The Effects of Crises and European Fiscal Governance Reforms on the Budgetary Processes of Member States

The Effects of Crises and European Fiscal Governance Reforms on the Budgetary Processes of Member States

The European Parliament and economic governance: explaining a case of limited influence

EU public procurement policy: the economic crisis as trigger for enhanced harmonisation

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