Whatever medium or longer terms plans Chancellor Merkel has for the European Union, we are undoubtedly embarked on yet another treaty-reform journey. The immediate eurozone emergency may or may not require treaty change (one can only imagine that the Council legal services are engaged in a desperate battle to avoid that) but the dye hasContinue reading “Europe’s North Col: A New European Union Treaty?”
Author Archives: JamesPCross
The morning after
Regardless of one’s views on the fiscal treaty, this post-referendum analysis by my UCD colleague Andy Storey is a sobering reminder that a treaty focused on government debt is unlikely to resolve a crisis sparked principally by irresponsible lending and borrowing by private banks. On the other hand, bond markets (and German taxpayers & parliamentarians)Continue reading “The morning after”
Fear, Anger and Resignation: It’s Nearly Referendum Day
Before the conventional wisdom sets in stone, a few thoughts on the referendum campaign. First, win or lose, this looks to have been a good campaign for the left of the ‘no’ side. The profile of key Sinn Fein and ULA spokespeople will have been raised significantly as will their political credibility in key sectorsContinue reading “Fear, Anger and Resignation: It’s Nearly Referendum Day”
The fiscal treaty and the EU’s social bargain
Patrick Kinsella argues in today’s Irish Times that opposing the fiscal treaty is not equivalent to opposing the EU. In fact, his critique of the treaty is based on the argument that its narrow focus on budget discipline contradicts the de facto bargain between capital and labour that has guided European integration since the 1950s,Continue reading “The fiscal treaty and the EU’s social bargain”
Citizens Left out of Plan for EU Reform
While I am second to none in my admiration of Vincent Browne for his willingness to engage with the legal issues raised by the Fiscal Treaty, I would have difficulties with some of the assertions made by him in his article in the Irish Times today. 1) I am unable to see how the PringleContinue reading “Citizens Left out of Plan for EU Reform”
Treaty threatens to widen democratic deficit in EU
In this opinion piece for the Irish Times, I argue that the Fiscal Treaty will exacerbate the existing democratic deficit which characterises European Union politics. The EU already has a significant problem with its ‘image’ in many member states and Eurobarometer polls demonstrate that support for the integration process has fallen as the economic crisis hasContinue reading “Treaty threatens to widen democratic deficit in EU”
Is this the Euro’s make-or-break moment?
This analysis (by NUI Galway economist Alan Ahearne) of what the Greek crisis means for Europe reminds one of the heady days in winter 2011 when Angela Merkl declared her readiness to do “whatever it takes” to preserve the Euro. Ahearne makes a strong argument that saving the Euro will now require politically heroic stepsContinue reading “Is this the Euro’s make-or-break moment?”
Is the response to the crisis simply stupid?
Much current discussion of the euro crisis focuses on the seeming irrationality or incompetence of decision makers. For example, Guardian economics editor Larry Elliot says that “there is a failure or an unwillingness to grasp a basic truth about the single currency: it doesn’t work”. While this may be true to a certain extent, oneContinue reading “Is the response to the crisis simply stupid?”
Fiscal treaty referendum is still wide open
The latest poll results, reported in today’s Irish Times, show that the outcome of the May 31 referendum is still wide open: many voters are still undecided and given the degree of anti-austerity anger in the country, this could easily upset the 60:40 split in favour of the treaty among those who have decided howContinue reading “Fiscal treaty referendum is still wide open”
The Brussels Insider 