Is politics back in Brussels?

The attention received by these announcements contrasts with the low expectations surrounding the European council summit. The days when national leaders stole the show amid severe eurozone turbulences have gone, at least for now. Vivien Pertusot, from IFRI Brussels, suggests that debuting council president Donald Tusk will not have an easy task confronting a commission strengthened by the “spitzenkandidat saga”, dealing with deep-seated political divergences among member states.

The commission wants to have a “deeper and fairer economic and monetary union” back on the agenda. Against the background of tax avoidance scandals, the emphasis is on tax coordination measures rather than on improving economic and social governance in the eurozone. Yet the way in which the EU promotes reforms and fiscal consolidation is unconvincing for both economic and political reasons. Sonja Bekker, from Tilburg University, and Eulalia Rubio, from Notre Europe, write that the EU should restrain itself from giving member states excessively prescriptive recommendations and pay more attention to the domestic context. EU funds and fiscal flexibility should be used to boost reforms seeking ambitious long-term socioeconomic gains.

Reconquering public legitimacy might indeed necessitate greater political judgement rather than a radical institutional shakeup. In a new Policy Network paper, Renaud Thillaye analyses how EU reform recommendations are perceived and implemented in the eurozone. The paper unveils the subtle and constant interaction between Brussels and national democracies. It shows that the EU is at its best when it takes a long-term view, accommodates domestic interests and instigates a sense of reciprocity among member states.