Does integration advance through crises, as hinted by policy-makers such as jean Monnet or Romano Prodi? To what extent failure in responding to crises may lead to disintegration instead? Building on Historical-Institutionalist and Neofunctionalist approaches, as well as on macroeconomics this...

This paper examines six major policy issues within EU electricity regulation, a case study chosen both for its intrinsic importance and because its interdependence, politicization and volatility make it a plausible candidate for uniform, differentiated, and experimentalist regulation. It finds...

In this paper I examine how a Eurozone buffer fund could help bolster the stability of the Eurozone economy by mitigating the procyclicality of fiscal policies. Receipts from the buffer fund are assumed to be triggered by the cyclical movements in unemployment in each country. The receipts, in...

The paper shows that the introduction a Eurobond together with fiscal capacity at the centre would produce macro-stabilisation benefits both for the ‘core' and ‘periphery' of the Eurozone and would also achieve a rebalancing of the policy mix away from monetary towards fiscal stimulus. To...

We argue that the independent agency of EU institutions can serve not only to tie the member states to previous policy commitments, as argued in the extant literature, but also to untie member states from commitments that have become outdated and harmful. The European Central Bank saved the Euro...

We provide evidence that the ECB's unconventional monetary policy dampens yield cycles in secondary Eurozone sovereign debt markets around new sovereign debt auctions. This effect increases in market volatility. Cycles caused by domestic auctions and the role of market volatility are largest...

The American system of unemployment insurance (UI) is often cited as a model for potential European unemployment re-insurance schemes. While oversimplified comparisons are to be avoided, there are lessons Europe can learn from US federal-state relations regarding UI. We distinguish three aspects...

EU fiscal rules are a highly divisive topic. Although there is a broad consensus that rules are needed to ensure a smooth functioning of the euro area, views very much diverge over the effectiveness of current arrangements and over how and when to move ahead. This paper reviews the debate around...

The only way to share common liabilities in the Eurozone is to achieve full fiscal and political union, i.e. unity of liability and control. In the pursuit of that goal, there is a need to smooth the transition, avoid unnecessary strains to macroeconomic and financial stability and lighten the...

Fiscal restraint looks inevitable in the Eurozone following the pandemic, especially if the fiscal rules are reinstated. How to match this with the need to finance the climate transition? Two possible routes are explored. One is the adoption of a ‘green golden rule’, with the structural...