Supranational Agency and Indirect Governance After the Euro Crisis: ESM, ECB, EMEF and EFB

Abstract

This article categorizes newly created and proposed EMU institutions according to a new typology that broadens the well-established agent-trustee distinction to include cooptation and orchestration as two additional modes of indirect governance. Four empirical cases from the realm of EMU governance are provided, i.e. the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), the European Central Bank (ECB), the proposed European Minister of Economics and Finance (EMEF) and the European Fiscal Board (EFB). The article asks how we can explain that the institutional response to the euro area crisis has produced such diverse governance arrangements. Empirically, it shows that supranational actors like the European Commission can bypass states through enlisting existing authority to deepen European integration.

Keywords: EMU Institutions, Cooptation, Orchestration, ESM, ECB, EMEF, EFB

JEL Classification: F00