LIST OF PANELS

The birth of the EMU featured almost unprecedented transfer of sovereignty from the European member states to a newly created European institution. Ever since, monetary policy has been the sole responsibility of the ECB at least for the countries in the Eurozone. The budgetary policy though still belongs to the domain of the European member states. However, they are not completely free in this respect, as they are bound by the rules of the Stability and Growth Pact [SGP]. Sound public finances were considered to be a necessary corollary of monetary integration. The sovereign debt crisis, notably the situation in Greece, equipped the European Union with a number of new instruments under the umbrella of the so-called European semester. The introduction of the European semester that begins with the Annual Growth Survey [AGS] changed above all the timetable for submission of the convergence and stability reports. It enables, inter alia, the Commission to issue country-specific recommendations regarding next year’s budget of the member states. In addition, a procedure has been launched to reduce Macro-Economic Imbalances [MIP], very much alike the Excessive Deficit Procedure [EDP]. The aim of this panel is to assess the new European requirements and to identify ‘best practice’ concerning budget institutions and procedures in the European Commission in the context of the European semester. It takes the response of the European Union to the sovereign debt crisis as a point of departure. Typical questions include: What are the consequences of the new timetable for the submission of the convergence and stability reports? What is the impact of the country-specific recommendations of the Commission under the European semester? What is the effectiveness of the six-pack and two-pack? What the state of the transposition of the Council Directive on the requirements for Medium-Term Budgetary Frameworks [MTBF] of the European member states? What numerical rules are in place and how do they work? What is the role of independent fiscal institutions? Are the member states inside the Eurozone performing better than outsiders? The panel is geared to the publication of a special issue on European economic governance of one of the leading international journals on public policy or governance.  

The panel is related to the current debate on European governance which constitutes a paradox. On the one hand, decision making has become increasingly more intergovernmental, notably regarding issues of high politics, due to the sovereign debt crisis. On the other hand, the outcome is more supranational as the European Commission is equipped with all kind of new tools. The aim of this panel is assess these new tools critically in terms of sovereignty, legitimacy and effectiveness.