Introduction

Southern Europe has been at the epicentre of the Eurozone debt crisis. In most countries of Europe’s South, extensive reform programmes were initiated in order to address the structural weaknesses of their economies, revealed by the crisis. The aim of this introductory chapter is: (a) to provide a brief overview of the crisis and the adjustment and reform efforts in the countries of southern Europe, (b) to offer a theoretical introduction to the concept and characteristics of structural reforms and (c) to present the analytical framework and rationale that underpins the structure and content of the proposed volume.