Structural reforms in EU member states : exploring sanction-based and reward-based mechanisms

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dc.contributor.authorSTEINBACH, Armin
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-15T14:39:12Z
dc.date.available2016-09-15T14:39:12Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.descriptionPublished online: 09 September 2016en
dc.description.abstractAn insufficient level of structural reforms remains a perennial phenomenon in the EU. Despite the gradual expansion of macroeconomic governance, legal instruments fostering the implementation of structural reforms have been underexploited. This article examines the leeway provided by EU Treaties and legislation to use existing and new instruments to incentivize structural reforms more forcefully. First, in light of the recent change in the EU Commission's enforcement practice, we highlight how the sanctions-based regime under the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) can be extended to incorporate structural reforms. There is significant room for manoeuvre to account for the implementation of structural reforms both in the preventive and the corrective arm of the SGP. Second, contractual agreements on structural reforms offer an alternative to the sanction-based system. Unlike existing instruments, contractual agreements allow for more egalitarian and reward-based incentives and thus deviate from the classic 'surveillance model' of economic governance in the EU. We can conceptualize such agreements in two ways: First, as agreements concluded between the EU and individual Member States, underpinned by financial support as an incentive. Second, as mutual agreements concluded between Member States, which agree on the implementation of structural reforms as a kind of barter trading ensuring reciprocity. We highlight the legal boundaries on scope and design of such agreements and how they relate to the institutional governance setting in the EU.en
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationEuropean journal of legal studies, 2016, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 173-209en
dc.identifier.endpage209
dc.identifier.issn1973-2937
dc.identifier.issue1
dc.identifier.startpage173
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1814/43288
dc.identifier.volume9
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherEuropean University Instituteen
dc.relation.ispartofEuropean journal of legal studiesen
dc.relation.urihttps://ejls.eui.eu/en
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessen
dc.subjectEconomic governanceen
dc.subjectStructural reformsen
dc.subjectStability and growth pacten
dc.subjectContractual agreementsen
dc.titleStructural reforms in EU member states : exploring sanction-based and reward-based mechanismsen
dc.typeArticleen
dspace.entity.typePublication
eui.subscribe.skiptrue
person.identifier.other41118
relation.isAuthorOfPublicationd7233029-4a12-4a27-965a-127459c27e6c
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscoveryd7233029-4a12-4a27-965a-127459c27e6c
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