Search

INTRODUCTION, Amy Verdun On 25 March 2007 the European Union (EU) celebrates the signing in Rome--50 years ago to the day--of the two treaties that gave it birth. On that […]

The wide-ranging varieties of capitalism literature rests on a particular conception of banks and banking that, the authors argue, no longer reflects the reality of modern financial systems. They take advantage of the greater information regarding bank activities revealed by the financial crisis to consider the reality, across eight of the world's largest developed economies, of the financial power of banks to act as bulwarks against market forces. This article offers a market-based banking framework that transcends the bank-based/capital market–based dichotomy that dominates comparative political economy's consideration of financial systems and argues that future CPE research should focus on the activities of banks. By demonstrating how market-based banking increases market influences on the supply of credit, the authors highlight an underap-preciated source of financial market pressure on nonfinancial companies (NFCs) that can have a potential impact across the range of issues that the varieties of capitalism (VoC) literature has seen as differentiating national systems. This approach has implications in areas such as labor, welfare, innovation, and flexibility.

This article seeks to shed light on the development over the past decades of the concept of economic governance. It asks what is understood by economic governance and what role the social dimension has played. The article offers an analysis of the problems and possible issues confronting the EU as it seeks ways to address the sovereign debt crisis by embarking on deeper economic integration. The article concludes that from the early days there have been questions about the exact interaction between economic and monetary integration and thus between ‘economic’ and ‘monetary’ union. Despite Delors’ original inclination, few were willing to establish any linkage between EMU and social matters. The crises have again brought out the need to consider the two in tandem. Moreover, with the increased role in economic governance accorded to EU-level institutions, there is a need to rethink the EU democratic model.

Building Europe. The Cultural Politics of European Integration, London and New York: Routledge 2000. ISBN 0-415-18015-5, xii, Cris Shore, 258 pp.Welfare and Work in the Open Economy. Volume I: From Vulnerability to Competitiveness. Fritz W. Scharpf and Vivien A. Schmidt (eds), Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2001.Welfare and Work in the Open Economy. Volume II: Diverse Responses to Common Challenges. Fritz W. Scharpf and Vivien A. Schmidt (eds), Oxford University Press: Oxford, 2000. ISBN 0-19-922224087-6Citizenship, identity and immigration in the European Union: Between Past and Future, Theodora Kostakopolou, Manchester University Press: Manchester and New York, 2001, ISBN 0-7190-5998-4, 214 pp.European Citizenship between National Legacies and Postnational Projects, Klaus Eder and Bernhard Giesen (eds), Oxford University Press: Oxford and New York, 2001, ISBN 0-19-924120-1, 276 pp.Multicultural Citizenship of the European Union, Juan M. Delgado-Moreira, Ashgate Publishing Ltd: Aldershot and Vermont, 2000, ISBN 0-7546-1352-6, 212 pp.

May T. Yeung, Nicholas Perdikis and William A. Kerr Regional Trading Blocs in the Global Economy: The EU and ASEAN, Cheltenham, UK, Edward Elgar, 1999, xi+163 pp.James Walsh European Monetary Integration and Domestic Politics: Britain, France, and Italy, Boulder and London, Lynne Rienner, 2000, ISBN 1 55587 823 7, 182 pp.Philippe de Schoutheete The Case for Europe. Unity, Diversity and Democracy in the European Union, London, Lynne Rienner publishers, 2000, 118 pp. ISBN 1-55587-898-9 (lic)/l-55587-900-4 (pb).Dorothee Heisenberg The Mark of the Bundesbank. Germany's Role in European Monetary Cooperation, London and Boulder, Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999, ISBN 1-55587-689-7, 214 pp.Jackie Gower and John Redmond Enlarging the European Union: The Way Forward, Aldershot UK/Brookfield US: Ashgate, 2000, ISBN 1-84014-488-2, 208 pp.Hanna Ojanen, Aldershot The Plurality of Truth: A Critique of Research on the State and European Integration, Ashgate, 1998, ISBN 1-84014-402-5, 377 pp.Desmond Dinan Ever Closer Union: An Introduction to European Integration, 2nd edition, 1999, Boulder, Lynne Rienner, ISBN 1-55587-739-7 (pbk).Robert H. Lieshout The Struggle for the Organization of Europe. The Foundations of the European Union, Cheltenham, Edward Elgar, 1999, ISBN 1-85898-975-2, 202 pp.

Jörg Gerkrath, L'Emergence d'un Droit Constitutionnel pour L'Europe, Etudes Européennes, Brussels, 1997, ISBN 2-8004-1179-1,420 pp.P.J.G. Kapteyn and P. VerLoren van Themaat, edited by Laurence W. Gormley, Introduction to the Law of the European Communities, Kluwer Law International, London, Third Edition, 1998, ISBN 90-411-9667-6, 1447 pp.Andrew Moravcsik, The Choice for Europe. Social Purpose and State Power from Messina to Maastricht, UCL Press, London, 1999, ISBN 1-85728-192-6, 514 pp.Colette Mazzucelli, France and Germany at Maastricht. Politics and Negotiations to Create the European Union, Garland Publishing, New York, 1997, ISBN 0-8153-2195-3, 353 pp.C.C. Paraskevopoulos (ed.), European Union at the Crossroads - A Critical Analysis of Monetary Union and Enlargement, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 1998, (International, 1995), ISBN 1-85898-762-8, 205 pp.Jan Zielonka, Explaining Euro-Paralysis: Why Europe is Unable to Act in International Politics, MacMillan and St. Martin's Press, London and New York, 1997, ISBN 0-312-21463-4, 266 pp.Ingemar Dörfer, The Nordic Nations in the New Western Security Regime, Woodrow Wilson Centre Press, Washington, 1997, ISBN 0-943875-82-X, 103 pp.Gonzales Alonso and Luis Norberto, Política Comercial yRelaciones Exteriores de la Union Europea, Editorial Tecnos, Madrid, 1998, ISBN 84-309-3210-0, 431 pp.Larry Neal and Daniel Barbezat, The Economics of the European Union and the Economies of Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998, ISBN 0-19-511068-4, 396 pp.Brent F. Nelsen and Alexander C.-G. Stubb (eds), The European Union. Readings on the Theory and Practice of European Integration, 2nd edition, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, 1998, XI, ISBN 1-55587-804-0, 357 pp.Alasdair Blair, Dealing With Europe: Britain and the Negotiations of the Maastricht Treaty, Aldershot, UK/Brookfield, US, Ashgate, 1999, ISBN 184014 762, x + 285 pp.Peter H. Loedel, Deutsche Mark Politics. Germany in the European Monetary System, Lynne Riener, Boulder Colorado, 1999, ISBN 1-55587-835-0, 262 pp.Pierre-Henri Laurent and Marc Maresceau (eds), The State of the European Union. Volume 4. Deepening and Widening, Lynne Rienner, Boulder, Colorado/London, 1998, ISBN 1-55587-720-6, x + 374 pp.

R.H. Folsom, R.B. Lake and V.P. Nanda (eds.), European Union Law After Maastricht: A Practical Guide for Lawyers Outside the Common Market. The Hague, Kluwer Law International, 1996. ISBN 9041109706, 745 pp.Martin Rhodes, Paul Heywood and Vincent Wright (eds.), Developments in West European Politics. New York: St. Martins, 1997. ISBN 0-312-17340-7, 363 pp.Voices of Europe. A Selection of speeches delivered before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, 1949-1996. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, 1997. 92-871-3093-0, 274 pp. + compact disk.C. Mironesco, Un enjeu démocratique: Le Technology Assessment. Maîtrise de la technologie aux États-Unis et en Europe. Genève, Institut européen de l'Université de Genève, Georg Éditeur, 1997. ISBN 2-8257-8, 191 pp.Christos C. Paraskevopoulos, Ricardo Grinspun, Theodore Geoigakopoulos (eds.), Economic Integration and Public Policy in the European Union, Cheltenham (UK) / Brookfield (US): Edward Elgar, 1996. ISBN 185898314, xvii+310 pp.

The introduction of the euro is accompanied by an independent European Central Bank (ECB) which is solely responsible for monetary policy in the euro zone. No European institution will be introduced to flank the ECB. This particular institutional design is problematic. This article argues that Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) suffers moderately from a democratic deficit. However, the case of Germany illustrates that it is not the independence of the ECB that should be cause for concern, but the absence of specific domestic features and a government. It is unclear which political authority will be held responsible if EMU leads to an uneven distribution of costs and benefits across the euro zone. Economic literature suggests that under EMU distortions could well occur and that a different design could deal better with these imperfections. The historical process leading to EMU explains the reasons for its particular design. Although imperfect, EMU is an improvement over the pre-EMU status quo in which Germany de facto dominated monetary policy. Nevertheless, the design of EMU remains suboptimal.