IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v60y2022i1p81-100.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Walking the Tightrope: Politicization and the Commission's Enforcement of the SGP

Author

Listed:
  • Reinout Arthur van der Veer

Abstract

Recent research indicates that bottom‐up EU politicization shapes top‐down EU policy enforcement, yet leaves open questions on the pervasiveness of these effects in policy areas that are depoliticized by design. This contribution asks how societal EU politicization shaped the enforcement of the Stability and Growth Pact up until its COVID‐19‐induced suspension. It employs causal process‐tracing to analyse fiscal rule enforcement under varying levels and constellations of EU politicization. Results indicate that enforcement by the European Commission is shaped both by mandate and exogenous pressures created by politicization and the reputational concerns they induce. Moreover, politicization has gradually pushed the Commission towards increasingly flexible enforcement of EU fiscal rules. These conclusions are relevant because they show that politicization permeates even the most depoliticized areas of EU policy. Additionally, they suggest that the SGP's COVID‐19‐induced suspension can be understood as a continuation of existing enforcement strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Reinout Arthur van der Veer, 2022. "Walking the Tightrope: Politicization and the Commission's Enforcement of the SGP," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 81-100, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:60:y:2022:i:1:p:81-100
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13272
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13272
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13272?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Rauh, Christian, 2019. "EU politicization and policy initiatives of the European Commission: the case of consumer policy," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 344-365.
    2. David L. Deephouse & Suzanne M. Carter, 2005. "An Examination of Differences Between Organizational Legitimacy and Organizational Reputation," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 329-360, March.
    3. Daniel Seikel, 2016. "Flexible Austerity and Supranational Autonomy. The Reformed Excessive Deficit Procedure and the Asymmetry between Liberalization and Social Regulation in the EU," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 1398-1416, November.
    4. de Wilde, Pieter & Rauh, Christian, 2019. "Going full circle: the need for procedural perspectives on EU responsiveness," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(11), pages 1737-1748.
    5. Valerie J. D'Erman & Daniel F. Schulz & Amy Verdun & Dennis Zagermann, 2022. "The European Semester in the North and in the South: Domestic Politics and the Salience of EU‐Induced Wage Reform in Different Growth Models," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 21-39, January.
    6. Hooghe, Liesbet & Marks, Gary, 2009. "A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissensus," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(1), pages 1-23, January.
    7. John Peterson, 2017. "Juncker's political European Commission and an EU in crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 349-367, March.
    8. Nicole Baerg & Mark Hallerberg, 2022. "Council Checks of the Commission under the European Semester: Does Member State Power and Euroscepticism Still Matter?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 58-80, January.
    9. Philipp Genschel & Markus Jachtenfuchs, 2018. "From Market Integration to Core State Powers: The Eurozone Crisis, the Refugee Crisis and Integration Theory," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 178-196, January.
    10. Federico Fabbrini, 2022. "The Legal Architecture of the Economic Responses to COVID‐19: EMU beyond the Pandemic," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 186-203, January.
    11. David Bokhorst, 2022. "The Influence of the European Semester: Case Study Analysis and Lessons for its Post‐Pandemic Transformation," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 101-117, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bart Vanhercke & Amy Verdun, 2022. "The European Semester as Goldilocks: Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and the Recovery and Resilience Facility," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 204-223, January.
    2. Valerie D'Erman & Amy Verdun, 2022. "An Introduction: “Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and Domestic Politics: Policy Coordination in the EU from the European Semester to the Covid‐19 Crisis”," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 3-20, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valerie D'Erman & Amy Verdun, 2022. "An Introduction: “Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and Domestic Politics: Policy Coordination in the EU from the European Semester to the Covid‐19 Crisis”," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 3-20, January.
    2. Nicole Baerg & Mark Hallerberg, 2022. "Council Checks of the Commission under the European Semester: Does Member State Power and Euroscepticism Still Matter?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 58-80, January.
    3. Hutter, Swen & Kriesi, Hanspeter, 2019. "Politicizing Europe in times of crisis," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(7), pages 996-1017.
    4. Abbott, Kenneth W. & Genschel, Philipp & Snidal, Duncan & Zangl, Bernhard, 2018. "The governor's dilemma: Competence versus control in indirect governance," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2018-101, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. Anne Elizabeth Stie & Jarle Trondal, 2020. "Introducing the Study of Nordic Cooperation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 1-10.
    6. Kenneth W. Abbott & Philipp Genschel & Duncan Snidal & Bernhard Zangl, 2020. "Competence versus control: The governor's dilemma," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(4), pages 619-636, October.
    7. Roman Hlatky, 2023. "The politicization of European integration and support for restrictive migration policies," European Union Politics, , vol. 24(4), pages 684-707, December.
    8. Reinout A van der Veer & Markus Haverland, 2018. "Bread and butter or bread and circuses? Politicisation and the European Commission in the European Semester," European Union Politics, , vol. 19(3), pages 524-545, September.
    9. Pamela Pansardi & Pier Domenico Tortola, 2022. "A “More Political” Commission? Reassessing EC Politicization through Language," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 1047-1068, July.
    10. Fedra Negri & Francesco Nicoli & Theresa Kuhn, 2021. "Common currency, common identity? The impact of the Euro introduction on European identity," European Union Politics, , vol. 22(1), pages 114-132, March.
    11. Guri Rosén, 2019. "Proving Their Worth? The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Members of the European Parliament," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 266-278.
    12. Valerie J. D'Erman & Daniel F. Schulz & Amy Verdun & Dennis Zagermann, 2022. "The European Semester in the North and in the South: Domestic Politics and the Salience of EU‐Induced Wage Reform in Different Growth Models," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 21-39, January.
    13. Carl Vikberg, 2020. "Explaining interest group access to the European Commission’s expert groups," European Union Politics, , vol. 21(2), pages 312-332, June.
    14. Bart Vanhercke & Amy Verdun, 2022. "The European Semester as Goldilocks: Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and the Recovery and Resilience Facility," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 204-223, January.
    15. Anne Elizabeth Stie & Jarle Trondal, 2020. "Introducing the Study of Nordic Cooperation," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 332-341.
    16. Danilo Di Mauro & Vincenzo Memoli, 2021. "The Role of Public Opinion in EU Integration: Assessing the Relationship between Elites and the Public during the Refugee Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(5), pages 1303-1321, September.
    17. Paul Copeland, 2022. "The Juncker Commission as a Politicising Bricoleur and the Renewed Momentum in Social Europe," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(6), pages 1629-1644, November.
    18. Wen Pan & Madeleine O. Hosli & Michaël Lantmeeters, 2023. "Historical institutionalism and policy coordination: origins of the European semester," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 141-167, April.
    19. Marta Migliorati, 2020. "The Post‐agencification Stage between Reforms and Crises. A Comparative Assessment of EU agencies' Budgetary Development," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1393-1412, November.
    20. Martínez-Ferrero, Jennifer & García-Sánchez, Isabel-María, 2017. "Coercive, normative and mimetic isomorphism as determinants of the voluntary assurance of sustainability reports," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 102-118.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:60:y:2022:i:1:p:81-100. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.