ABSTRACT
Ordoliberalism, which traces its roots to a prolific group of economic and legal scholars at the University of Freiburg’s Faculty of Law and Economics in the early 1930s, has proved singularly influential in shaping the social market economy of postwar Germany. The actual process of European integration has developed differently than most ordoliberals had wished. The Latin European tradition, in contrast, prioritizes flexibility over rigid rules and rejects supranational policy constraints that might hamper crisis management and the pursuit of macroeconomic stability. From an ordoliberal perspective, with its emphasis on rules and competition, political integration is acceptable as long as it respects the principle of economic and political – or systems – competition. The initial aim of economic integration based on the principles of a competitive market order has become increasingly dominated by efforts to integrate Europe in realms beyond the market.
