Re-embedding Europe : the political economy of EU macrosocialisation

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis transformed EU economic governance. The Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) stepped forward as a protector of national welfare states— leveraging joint debt, fiscal and monetary stimuli and targeted job support measures. While many attribute this shift to changing national interests, a key question remains unanswered: Who developed this agenda, and how did it come to fruition? This thesis moves beyond explanations of EMU reforms as inter-state conflicts at given points in time. Instead, it explores EMU politics as a dynamic policy space progressively owned and redefined by social policymakers over time. Specifically, I contend that, since the adoption of the euro, the EMU has undergone a gradual, incomplete, yet decisive transformation—which I define as macrosocialisation. Macrosocialisation entails making EU macroeconomic policies more sensitive to its social implications. This process, I posit, was achieved by layering a European Social Union onto the EMU via the supranationalisation of core welfare functions—insurance, capacitation and redistribution. Part I traces EU macrosocialisation historically. Chapter 2 examines the evolution of EMU priorities between 1992 and 2019. Chapter 3 compares the distributive profile of EU labour market policies before vs. after the EU Social Pillar by analysing 110 EU measures and 532 European Court of Justice (ECJ) judgements (1999–2023). Part II explores the Roads to EU macrosocialisation by analysing the political economy underlying the adoption of the SURE job retention scheme (chapter 4), the Minimum Wage Directive (chapter 5), and the National Recovery Plans of France, Germany, Italy and Spain (chapter 6). Chapter 7 evaluates the staying power of this shift. Drawing on the coding of 344 EU prescriptions and 112 national party positions, 74 elite interviews and a participant account at the European Commission, this analysis reveals how (legal) incorporation, (ideological) instillation, and (political) irradiation provide complementary pathways for macrosocialisation.