Does Europe Really Need Fiscal and Political Union?

Background

The European Commission published on 6 December 2017 a Roadmap for deepening the Economic and Monetary Union, containing a package of communications and legislative proposals to achieve the purpose.

+ Communication on 'Further steps towards completing the Economic and Monetary Union' [COM(2017)821]

+ Communication on 'New budgetary instruments for a stable euro area within the Union framework' [COM(2017)822]

+ Communication on 'A European Minister of Economy and Finance' [COM(2017)823]

+ Proposal to integrate the substance of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance into the Union legal framework [COM(2017)824]

+ Proposal to strengthen the Structural Reform Support Programme [COM(2017)825]

+ Targeted changes in the Common Provisions Regulation to mobilise funds in support of national reforms [COM(2017)826]

+ Proposal for the establishment of a European Monetary Fund anchored in the Union legal framework [COM(2017)827]

This Roadmap builds on the vision set out in the Five Presidents' Report of June 2015 and the Reflection Papers on the Deepening of the Economic and Monetary Union and the Future of EU Finances from the Spring 2017.

+ White Paper on the Future of Europe
+ 2017 State of the Union addressCommentary feature. There is a growing sense in Europe, among conservatives and progressives alike, that fiscal and eventual political union is necessary to maintain the euro without damaging economic performance or democratic values. But there was, argued the author, also an alternative, much less ambitious view, according to which only banking union was needed.

Blog: LSE EuroppBlog, 13.12.17: The macroeconomic consensus underpinning EMU is shifting. Could it pave the way for a completion of the Eurozone? http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2017/12/13/the-macroeconomic-consensus-underpinning-emu-is-shifting-could-it-pave-the-way-for-a-completion-of-the-eurozone/

European Parliament: EPRS: What Think Tanks Are Thinking, 01.12.17: Euro-area reform http://www.europeansources.info/record/euro-area-reform-what-think-tanks-are-thinking/

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