The Euro crisis: the battle of ideas how to address it - and its effects on European integration

What are the historical roots of the battle of ideas that shape the euro area asymmetry and why was it conducive to the crisis? What does the response of political authorities to the crisis teach us about the battle of ideas that underlies the MFF negotiations? We answer these questions by zooming on the ideational struggles about the EMU economic governance before, during and, to a lesser extent, after the euro crisis. First, we underline that the institutional design of the euro area is the outcome of ideational struggles, which are unfolding since the 1960s. Second, we analyse the battle of ideas between the different policy players who were fighting to frame the causes of the euro area crisis and the subsequent policy solutions. Finally, we draw links between the battle of ideas that took place during the euro area crisis and the negotiations on the RRF and the MFF.