|
Abstract:
With Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) the European Union embarked on a major historic political project of formidable technical complexity. In January 2009 the Euro Area was ten years old. What does the evidence from the first decade tell us about the significance of the euro for the EU and its member states?
This book brings together a range of recognised academic specialists to examine the main political aspects of this question:
- How, and in what ways, has the euro Europeanised states (members and non-members), their institutions, policies and politics?
- What have been its effects on the location and use of power?
- Has the euro generated convergence or divergence?
- What political patterns can be identified?
The book offers an in-depth and systematic political analysis of the first decade of the euro. It places the euro in its global and European contexts; offers a set of case studies of its effects on a representative sample of EU member states ('Anglo-Saxon', old 'D-Mark Zone', east central European and Baltic, Mediterranean, and Nordic); and looks at three key sectors (financial markets, wages and collective bargaining, and welfare reform).
The book contributes to Europeanisation studies, comparative political economy, and studies of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It will be of major interest to students of the European Union and European integration, comparative European politics, and area and 'country' studies.
Contents:
1. The First Decade: Credibility, Identity and Institutional 'Fuzziness' - Kenneth Dyson
2. The Euro in a Global Context: Challenges and Capacities - Benjamin J. Cohen
3. The Changing European Context of Economic and Monetary Union: 'Deepening', 'Widening' and Stability - Gaby Umbach and Wolfgang Wessels
4. Fiscal Policy Co-ordination and Discipline: The Crisis of the Stability and Growth Pact and Domestic Fiscal Regimes - Mark Hallerberg and Joshua Bridwell
5. Institutional Competitiveness: The Lisbon Process, Soft Governance and Convergence - Martin Marcussen
6. France: The Political Management of Paradoxical Interests - David Howarth
7. Germany: A Crisis of Leadership in the Euro Area - Kenneth Dyson
8. Greece: A Suitable Accommodation? - Kevin Featherstone
9. Ireland: The Outlier Inside - Colin Hay, Jari Riihelaeinen, Nicola Smith and Matthew Watson
10. Italy: Creeping Towards Convergence - Lucia Quaglia and Paul Furlong
11. The Netherlands: A Turning Point in Dutch-EU Relations? - Amy Verdun
12. Baltic States: When Stability Culture Is Not Enough - Magnus Feldmann
13. Britain: The Political Economy of Retrenchment - Jim Buller and Andrew Gamble
14. Hungary and Slovakia: Compliance and its Discontents - Bela Greskovits
15. Poland: From Pacesetter to Semi-Permanent Outsider? - Radoslaw Zubek
16. Sweden: Stability without Europe - Johannes Lindvall
17. Banking and Financial Market Regulation and Supervision - Huw Macartney and Mick Moran
18. Wage Policies - Nick Parsons and Philippe Pochet
19. Welfare Reform - Daniel Wincott
20. European States and the Euro Area: Clustering and Covariance in Patterns of Change - Kenneth Dyson
|
