Here to Stay? The Return of Fiscal Policy and Challenges for the EU Governance

Abstract

The reaction of European Union’s (EU) policy makers to the Covid-19 shock was bold and timely; although they could not avoid a crisis whose dimensions made the 2007- 2008 Global Financial Crisis pale by comparison, the governments’ titanic effort managed, with the support of EU institutions, to mitigate its impact on incomes and employment. This came as a welcome change after the calamitous management of the sovereign debt crisis. But it is precisely the extraordinary dimension of the crisis that prompts the question of whether the activism of economic policy denoted a change in the mindset of EU governments and institutions, or simply was the only option available to policymakers to avoid the collapse of their economies. This paper tries to answer the question through an assessment of the debate on Eurozone reform, with a focus on the “New Kid in Town”: fiscal policy.