The European Parliament in the Economic and Monetary Union after COVID: towards a slow empowerment?

The European Parliament (EP)'s role in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has always been rather limited. Its prerogatives were somewhat reinforced after the Euro crisis, but its role in policy implementation remained minimal. However, because of the pandemic, the level of integration at the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of legislative studies 2022-07, Vol.28 (3), p.385-401
Main Authors: Fromage, Diane, Markakis, Menelaos
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accountability
Cooperation
COVID crisis
Economic and Monetary Union
Empowerment
European Parliament
Eurozone crisis
Humanities and Social Sciences
Law
Legislatures
Monetary unions
Pandemics
Policy implementation
Recovery and Resilience Facility
Reinforcement
Resilience
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Summary:The European Parliament (EP)'s role in the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has always been rather limited. Its prerogatives were somewhat reinforced after the Euro crisis, but its role in policy implementation remained minimal. However, because of the pandemic, the level of integration at the supranational level has significantly increased as a result of, among others, the adoption of unique instruments such as the SURE instrument, Next Generation EU and the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RFF). This article considers to what extent the EP's role in EMU has been reinforced as a result of these measures. It finds that the EP was regrettably reserved only a limited role in the operationalisation of the RRF and an even lesser role in other instruments, but that legal and political constraints made any other outcome unlikely. This article argues in favour of an increased use of the existing instruments by both the EP and national parliaments, as well as a reinforcement of interparliamentary cooperation. A far more extensive empowerment of the EP would be required if temporary and exceptional developments that occurred in the EMU during the pandemic were to become more entrenched.
ISSN:1357-2334
1743-9337
DOI:10.1080/13572334.2022.2107811