Balancing Pressures: The Politics of Governing the European Economy

Balancing Pressures analyses how the economy, national politics, and supranational politics shape economic policymaking in the European Union. Economic theories alert policymakers of the problems associated with policy initiatives. Economic uncertainties shape political positioning during negotiations, while actual economic conditions affect both negotiations and implementation. National pressures to win office and pursue policies systematically influence negotiating positions, implementation patterns, and outcomes. Supranational pressures are associated with membership in the euro area, the expected and actual patterns of compliance, or the context of negotiations. Spanning the period of 1994 to 2019, this book analyses how these pressures shaped the definition of the policy problems, the controversies surrounding policy reforms, the outcome, timing, and direction of reforms, the negotiations over preventive surveillance, the compliance with recommendations, and the use and effectiveness of the procedure to correct excessive fiscal deficits. It concludes by assessing the effectiveness, fairness, and responsiveness of the policy.