Resilience and Reform in the Euro Area: Options Linking Stability, Solidarity and Democracy

The crisis in the Eurozone is still far from being solved. The current institutional setting of the European Treaties was not capable of dealing efficiently and legitimately with the fundamental issues of the crisis: the banking crisis, the sovereign debt crisis and the competitiveness crisis, that led at the same time to a crisis of European democracy. It has proven to be insufficient to prevent or to resolve a financial and economic crisis in a sustainable manner. Against this backdrop the Five Presidents’ Report on Completing Europe´s Economic and Monetary Union from 22 June 2015 highlighted the need ‘to move from a system of rules and guidelines for national economic policy making to a system of further sovereignty sharing within common institutions’ till 2025. This contribution discusses possible options that range from rather intergovernmental concepts with the Council and the Euro Group at its heart to more supranational concepts based with the Commission, ranging from a European Economic Government to a European Economic and Finance Minister. With regard to the principle of democracy it elaborates on different options on the role of the European Parliament and national parliaments.