The Pursuit Of Stability Of The Euro Area As A Whole

This book analyses the ongoing reform of the European economic union in the light of the new objective of ‘stability of the euro area as a whole’ in Article 136(3) TFEU. On the basis of the relevant legal sources, it qualifies this objective as the obligation to preserve the existence of the monetary union, the establishment of which was an EU goal laid down in Article 3(4) TEU. While to date the objective has been achieved through fiscal and macroeconomic consolidation in the member states and the activation of stabilisation mechanisms in cases of emergency, the book argues that full stability requires a better system of economic governance, either through a process of partial fiscal centralisation or the return to a more efficient and sustainable market discipline of public finances. It also analyses the concrete legal challenges these raise, including compliance with the conferral principle, the longstanding democratic deficit of the governance and the balance between financial solidarity and fiscal responsibility.

What purpose does the EU serve? Why and how was it set up? How does it work? What has it already achieved for its citizens, and what new challenges does it face today? In a globalised world, can the EU compete successfully with other major economies while maintaining its social standards? How can immigration be managed? What will Europe’s role be on the world stage in the years ahead? Where will the EU’s boundaries be drawn? And what future is there for the euro? These are just some of the questions explored by EU expert Pascal Fontaine in this 2017 edition of his popular booklet Europe in 12 lessons. Pascal Fontaine is a former assistant to Jean Monnet and former professor at the Institut d’Études Politiques, Paris.

EU fiscal integration is indispensable to establishing a stable single currency in the long run. However, this integration is proving ever more difficult in light of increasing national constitutional opposition. The author of this groundbreaking book shows that this dilemma between EU fiscal integration and national constitutional limits can be refuted. He provides a structured, comparative overview and outlook on how the available national constitutional space can be adapted to the political aspirations aiming at implementing EU fiscal integration steps while at the same time effectively protecting the national constitutional values at stake. Beginning with a macro-comparative assessment of Finland and Germany – two countries which have comprehensively dealt with Eurocrisis-issues in largely contrasting constitutional ways – and continuing with a comparative assessment of the specific French, German, Polish, and Spanish constitutional (identity) limits, EU fiscal integration steps are tested against the charted national constitutional space to determine their attainability. The resulting overview identifies best practices that can be employed to locate constitutional space for EU fiscal integration while enhancing the protection of core constitutional principles. The analysis addresses such specific areas as the following: constitutional red-line limits vs. flexible or mutable constitutional approaches to EU fiscal integration; strict constitutional identity limits that formulate obstacles to the attainment of EU fiscal integration; how national constitutional authorities perceive and portray the EU in their respective approaches; integration measures as an increase in the impact of sovereign powers vs. loss of autonomous decision-making; application of national constitutional frameworks during the Eurocrisis; ex ante constitutional review and ex post judicial scrutiny in representative Member States; national budgetary responsibility and fiscal autonomy; emergency budgetary instruments; and funding options for fiscal integration. The analysis throughout highlights the important role EU integration plays in stabilizing core national constitutional values in light of such complex challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic, the current Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the required common defence strategies, but also climate change and digitalization. In its innovative response to the urgent challenge of feasible EMU reforms to stabilize the euro, this book displays how national constitutional systems can address EU (fiscal) integration in a more flexible and yet more effective manner, how EU integration steps can engage with national constitutional concerns in a more structured manner, as well as specifically hownational parliaments can be integrated and play a decisive role even when budgetary and fiscal powers are conferred at the EU level, thereby identifying a future model for EU cooperation in politically important competence areas. It thus offers a constructive outlook on achievable fiscal integration steps which will prove of inestimable value to lawyers, judges, and policymakers at the national and EU levels.

The European Union has evolved from a purely economic organisation to a multi-faceted entity with political, social and human rights dimensions. This has created an environment in which the concept of solidarity is gaining a more substantial role in shaping the EU legal order. This book provides both a retrospective assessment and an outlook on the future possibilities of solidarity’s practical and theoretical meaning and legal enforcement in the ever-changing Union.

A critical analysis of the legal dimension of European Union economic governance.

This insightful book assesses the theory of constitutional pluralism in light of the events of the Eurozone crisis of the past decade. Based on an analysis of how national courts reviewed the crisis response mechanisms and participated in the European-level political process, Tomi Tuominen argues that constitutional pluralism is not a valid normative theory of European constitutionalism.

The monograph `The Future of the European Union' as well as the publication that precedes it `European Integration: Conditions, Essence and Consequences’ have been compiled as part of the project `Quo vadis Unio? a racja stanu Polski' under the DIALOG research programme between 2019 and 2023. It is the result of contributions by Europeanists, political scientists, lawyers, economists, cultural scholars and historians who study the issues of European integration. The content presented in both publications reflects the research outcomes and views of the individual authors. The first of these publications was designed as an attempt to summarise the integration process to date and its legal and institutional dimension, which is the contemporary European Union. The publication ‘The Future of the European Union’ consists of five parts: `The Concepts of Reforms of the European Union', `The Future Modernisation of the Institutional System of the European Union', `Selected EU Policies – Future Prospects', `The European Union – the External Determinants of Further Development', `The Perspectives on the Theoretical Dimension of European Studies'. We hope that the issues raised in this monograph will be of interest to potential readers, especially academics and students interested in European integration issues. Insight into these issues may also be useful to government officials and NGO activists, as well as to a wide audience interested in European issues. These objectives may be more achievable after reading both of these monographs dedicated to European integration issues.

The existence of a structured enforcement system is an inherent feature of national legal orders and one of the core elements of State sovereignty. The very limited power to issue sanctions has often been deemed a gap in the EC legal order. Over the years, the situation has progressively changed. The Union’s institutional setting is growing in complexity and a variety of agencies has been or is expected to be endowed with law enforcement responsibilities. In addition, the so-called competence creep has led the EU to play an increasingly prominent role in several areas of EU law enforcement, including the issuing of sanctions. This book examines these developments, focusing on both the general features of the EU legal order and the analysis of key-substantive areas, such as banking and monetary union, environmental law, and data protection. The work thus presents a general framework for understanding EU sanctioning based on structural features and general legal principles. Part I develops an analytical framework, tracking the most significant evolutive patterns of EU sanctioning powers. Part II adopts a more practical approach focusing on specific issues and policy areas. The book bridges a gap in existing literature and sheds new light on the relationship between the exercise of jus puniendi and the evolution of EU integration.