Toward A Closer Union? Some Implications Of The Eu Recovery Plan

The tragic social and economic disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced countries to take what they considered to be the proper steps toward improving their economies. In the case of the EU, its recovery package has sparked debates around impending fiscal federalization and the future of economics, sovereignty and democracy in Europe. This paper looks at discussions surrounding the package’s long- term effects especially as regards a fiscal union (and how such a union might affect EU politics and democracy), and, finally, how such a move might translate into seismic cultural turmoil. In addition, the current EU move toward a potential closer union is often contrasted with the formation and functioning of the US, from which lessons might be gleaned and, hopefully, heeded. Despite the otherwise encouraging prospects touted by politicians and MMT advocates, the long- term effects of inflation in the wake of the relief package could be serious and their prospective emergence should not be ignored. Moreover, if one thinks, as Sowell might say, ‘beyond stage one’, the effects of fiscal federalization of the EU might well have effects which trickle down to the very foundations of cultural and democratic interactions.