ABSTRACT

The financial crisis posed new challenges for the administrations of Eurozone countries, including: how to respect EU obligations when the economy is under stress? How to improve the overall implementation of EU policies and domestic reforms? How to negotiate effectively with the Troika and then quickly and efficiently fulfil the requirements of the Memoranda of Understanding?

This volume offers the first analysis of EU coordination by national executives in the light of the legal and political consequences of the crisis, using case studies of five severely affected Member States: Cyprus, Greece, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal. It examines from an interdisciplinary perspective how they have adapted their coordination systems since the outbreak of the crisis, shedding light on the adjustments undertaken by domestic administrations.

The comparison reveals that in this process Prime Ministers and Ministers of Finance were empowered in a common shift towards the centralization of EU coordination.

chapter 1|11 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|26 pages

EU coordination in Greece

‘Forced’ Europeanization under the MoU?

chapter 3|16 pages

EU coordination in Ireland

Centralization to master the crisis

chapter 4|27 pages

EU coordination in Portugal

Continuity and flexibility in a Troika regime

chapter 5|23 pages

EU coordination in Cyprus

The limits of Europeanization in times of crisis

chapter 6|21 pages

EU coordination in Italy

(Predominantly) internally driven changes in times of crisis

chapter 7|11 pages

Conclusion