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The Resilient Governance of the EU: Towards a Post-democratic Society

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Anti-Europeanism

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Abstract

The paper aims to highlight the ordoliberal discourse that permeates the public choice in the new European governance. The social market economy remains the key-doctrine of any further strengthening of the EMU, even though the shift towards an institutionalised differentiated integration will bring to a progressive depoliticisation of the public authority and will give rise to disruptive forces. Furthermore, the article will focus on the “multiple Union” (Monetary, Financial, Fiscal, and Political Union) combined with the concept of “resilient economies” as a turning point in conceiving the relationship between capitalism and democracy in Europe. A relationship that subordinates the Keynesian “full employment” objective to the “benchmarking” competitiveness models, export led and deflationary policies. From another angle, this encounters a serious gap of legitimacy and a progressive EU popular disaffection that deal, in a broader sense, with deconsolidation of the classical liberal and representative democratic framework.

“The euro is more than just a currency. It is a political and economic project”

Jean-Claude Juncker

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Notes

  1. 1.

    EU Commission Brussels, 7. 6. 2017 JOIN(2017) 21 final JOINT COMMUNICATION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL A Strategic Approach to Resilience in the EU’s external action.

  2. 2.

    See also the World Resource Institute, World Resources 2008: Roots of Resilience.

  3. 3.

    COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies.

  4. 4.

    See for the notion of “disintegration” Zielonka (2014).

  5. 5.

    See for an excellent historical reconstruction of the ordoliberal economic and juridical thought and its influence in Europe, Somma (2014).

  6. 6.

    The “Blueprint for a Deep and Genuine EMU” of 2012 remains an essential reference for completing the EMU as well as the Analytical Note “Preparing for Next Steps on Better Economic Governance in the Euro Area” of 12 February 2015.

  7. 7.

    Report “Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union”: https://ec.europa.eu/priorities/sites/beta-political/files/5-presidents-report_en.pdf, p. 4.

  8. 8.

    The word “convergence” compares 28 times, “competitiveness” 46 times and “resilience” 8 times.

  9. 9.

    Ibidem.

  10. 10.

    Ivi, p. 8.

  11. 11.

    European Commission Reflection Paper on harnessing globalisation, COM (2017) 240 final.

  12. 12.

    Report Completing Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union, p. 11.

  13. 13.

    Ibidem.

  14. 14.

    Ibidem.

  15. 15.

    Ivi, p. 14.

  16. 16.

    Ibidem.

  17. 17.

    Ivi, p. 15.

  18. 18.

    Ibidem.

  19. 19.

    Ivi, p. 17.

  20. 20.

    Ibidem.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The European College of Parma Foundation, Parma, Italy

    Marco Baldassari

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  1. Marco Baldassari
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Correspondence to Marco Baldassari .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. The European College of Parma Foundation, Parma, Italy

    Marco Baldassari

  2. Department of Law, Politics and International Studies, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Emanuele Castelli

  3. Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Matteo Truffelli

  4. Center for Studies in European and International Affairs, University of Parma, Parma, Italy

    Giovanni Vezzani

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Baldassari, M. (2020). The Resilient Governance of the EU: Towards a Post-democratic Society. In: Baldassari, M., Castelli, E., Truffelli, M., Vezzani, G. (eds) Anti-Europeanism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24428-6_5

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