Withdrawal and Expulsion from the EU and EMU: Some Reflections
50 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2009
Date Written: December 18, 2009
Abstract
This paper examines the issues of secession and expulsion from the European Union (EU) and Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It concludes that negotiated withdrawal from the EU would not be legally impossible even prior to the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and that unilateral withdrawal would undoubtedly be legally controversial; that, while permissible, a recently enacted exit clause is, prima facie, not in harmony with the rationale of the European unification project and is otherwise problematic, mainly from a legal perspective; that a Member State’s exit from EMU, without a parallel withdrawal from the EU, would be legally inconceivable; and that, while perhaps feasible through indirect means, a Member State’s expulsion from the EU or EMU, would be legally next to impossible. This paper concludes with a reminder that while, institutionally, a Member State’s membership of the euro area would not survive the discontinuation of its membership of the EU, the same need not be true of the former Member State’s use of the euro.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Towards a Euro(Pean) Monetary Fund
By Daniel Gros and Thomas Mayer
-
Towards a Euro(pean) Monetary Fund
By Daniel Gros and Thomas Mayer
-
When the Euro Falls Apart - A Sequel
By Hal S. Scott
-
Sovereign Default Risk and Private Sector Access to Capital in Emerging Markets
By Christoph Trebesch, Udaibir Das, ...
-
Making a Voluntary Greek Debt Exchange Work
By Mitu Gulati and Jeromin Zettelmeyer
-
Making a Voluntary Greek Debt Exchange Work
By Mitu Gulati and Jeromin Zettelmeyer
-
How to Deal with Sovereign Default in Europe: Create the European Monetary Fund Now!
By Daniel Gros and Thomas Mayer
-
Adjustment Difficulties in the GIPSY Club
By Daniel Gros
-
By Andre Nollkaemper and Gerrit Betlem