From 2009 to 2015, the European Union's (EU) euro area experienced an existential socio-economic crisis. To secure its institutional integrity, the EU designed several new institutions to support member states in need but also to facilitate socio-economic adjustments.
The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) lies at the centre of this strategy: it provides financial assistance to member states in severe crisis on an intergovernmental basis while demanding compliance with adjustment programs from program countries.
Based on a comparative political economic analysis, Remaking European Political Economies shows that the EU's financial assistance programs focused strongly on reforms that led to a partial convergence of program countries based on market-based economic governance and reduced governmental influence in the economy. The book draws on extensive, empirically based case studies of two prominent euro area countries in crisis: Greece and Ireland. Dennis Zagermann illustrates that socio-economic models in the euro area can experience institutional change if exposed to severe crises in combination with financial assistance programs that include policy conditionality. In doing so, his book sheds light on the central question of whether there is a possible convergence of European models of capitalism — a question that has been at the centre of comparative political economic debates for over thirty years.
By:
Dennis Zagermann
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 235mm,
Width: 156mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 520g
ISBN: 9781487549039
ISBN 10: 1487549032
Series: European Union Studies
Pages: 296
Publication Date: 15 February 2024
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
1. Introduction 1.1 Euro area crisis and EMU governance 1.2 Varieties of capitalism: Trajectories of European socio-economic models 1.3 European Stability Mechanism 1.4 Outlook and structure of the book 2. EMU and the dynamics of institutional change 2.1 Varieties of capitalism 2.1.1 Coordinated market economies 2.1.2 Liberal market economies 2.1.3 Mixed-market economies 2.2 Adjustment pressures in times of crisis 2.2.1 Institutional constraints on economic adjustment in EMU 2.2.2 Economic adjustment pressures of EMU’s varieties of capitalism 2.3 The ESM’s potential role in institutional change 2.3.1 Rational choice institutionalism 2.3.2 Historical institutionalism 2.3.3 Discursive institutionalism 2.4 Hypotheses 3. Research design 3.1 Operationalisation 3.2 Methodology, data, and case selection 3.2.1 Methodology 3.2.2 Data 3.2.2.1 Socio-economic data 3.2.2.2 Qualitative document analysis 3.2.2.3 Semi-structured interviews 3.2.3 Case selection and time span 4. The European Stability Mechanism 4.1 European integration, the monetary union, and financial assistance 4.2 Institutional development of the ESM 4.2.1 Greek Loan Facility 4.2.2 European Financial Stability Facility 4.2.3 European Financial Stability Mechanism 4.2.4 European Stability Mechanism 4.3 Decision-making inside the ESM 4.3.1 The governance structure of the ESM 4.3.2 The central role of the Eurogroup 4.3.3 The ESM and parliamentary participation 4.4 Financial assistance programs 4.4.1 Overview of the financial assistance procedure 4.4.2 Overview of existing programs 4.4.3 The ESM’s role in the financial assistance architecture 4.5 Interim conclusion 5. The Greek case: Policy conditionally and externally induced socio-economic change 5.1 Central developments of the Greek crisis 5.2 Institutional change 2010–2018 5.2.1 Institutional changes in Greek labour markets 5.2.1.1 Decentralisation of collective bargaining 5.2.1.2 Employment protection and employment developments 5.2.1.3 Unemployment support and active labour market polices 5.2.2 Institutional changes in Greek fiscal policy 5.2.2.1 Fiscal consolidation by reducing government expenditure 5.2.2.2 Increasing government revenue 5.2.2.3 Fiscal rules, budgetary reforms, and the reduction of government discretion 5.2.2.4 Privatisation 5.2.2.5 Effects on the government’s role in the economy 5.3 Labour market reforms 5.3.1 Labour market paradigms and ideational processes 5.3.2 Actor preferences and incentive structures 5.3.3 The crisis as a critical juncture in Greek labour market policy 5.4 Fiscal policy 5.4.1 Fiscal policy paradigms and ideational processes 5.4.2 Actor preferences and incentive structures 5.4.3 The crisis as a critical juncture in Greek fiscal policy 5.5 Interim conclusion 6. The Irish case: Policy conditionality and internal ideational change 6.1 How the Irish crisis developed 6.2 Institutional change 2009–2018 6.2.1 Institutional changes in Irish labour markets 6.2.1.1 Decentralization of collective bargaining 6.2.1.2 Employment protection and employment developments 6.2.1.3 Unemployment support and activation policies 6.2.2 Institutional changes in Irish fiscal policy 6.2.2.1 Fiscal consolidation by reducing government expenditure 6.2.2.2 Government revenue developments 6.2.2.3 Fiscal rules, budgetary oversight, and the reduction of government discretion 6.2.2.4 Privatisation 6.2.2.5 Effects on the government’s role in the economy 6.3 Labour market reforms 6.3.1 Labour market paradigms and ideational processes 6.3.2 Actor preferences and incentive structures 6.3.3 The crisis as a critical juncture in Irish labour markets 6.4 Fiscal policy 6.4.1 Fiscal policy paradigms and ideational processes 6.4.2 Actor preferences and incentive structures 6.4.3 The crisis as a critical juncture in Irish fiscal policy 6.5 Interim conclusion 7. Comparing Greece and Ireland 7.1 Comparison of adjustment processes 7.2 Role of the ESM 7.3 Interim conclusion 8. Outlook: ESM reform and COVID-19 8.1 ESM reform 8.2 The ESM during the COVID-19 crisis 8.3 Interim conclusion 9. Conclusion 10. Literature 11. Attachment I: List of interviews 12. Attachment II: List of documents, Greek case 13. Attachment III: List of documents, Irish case 14. Attachment: List of abbreviations 15. Attachment: List of tables 16. Attachment: List of figures
Dennis Zagermann is a political scientist whose research concerns diverse issues of the European political economy.
Reviews for Remaking European Political Economies: Financial Assistance in the Euro Crisis
"""The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is one of the least explored European institutions; it is also, at least potentially, one of the most important. Dennis Zagermann shows how the ESM developed as a major player in European macroeconomic governance, how it shaped responses to the global economic and financial crisis at the European and national levels, and how it has been reformed to play an even more important - and perhaps controversial - role in the future. His book is essential reading for anyone interested in European crisis management."" - Erik Jones, Director of the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute ""This book sheds novel light on the intended and unintended effects of the European Stability Mechanism on the euro area countries hit by the sovereign debt crisis from 2008 onwards. By carefully explaining the partial convergence of Greece and Ireland towards market-based economic governance, Dennis Zagermann makes important contributions to the literature on comparative political economy and European Union studies."" - Lucia Quaglia, Professor of Political Science, University of Bologna ""Ten years after the euro crisis, this book takes stock of where we got to with an Economic and Monetary Union, how our understanding of the eurozone has developed in parallel, and the road we took to get there. Remaking European Political Economies reviews the post-crisis literature, evaluates the institutional innovations that the euro crisis spawned, and considers how these have, in turn, been the foundations for crisis policies during the pandemic. History matters in these case studies; but so do new policy options, which open up horizons."" - Bob Hancké, Associate Professor in Political Economy, London School of Economics and Political Science"
