Treść książki

Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
TomaszGrzegorzGrosse
whichwillbereplacedgraduallybytheirEurozoneuoppositenumbers,”wielding
incomparablygreaterpoliticalauthority.Theremaininginstitutionswillbemarginalised
ormadesubjecttotheinfluenceoftheeuroareacountries.Itisgoingtobedifficultto
stoptheprocessofmarginalisationoftheouterintegrationcircle,whichwillbecome
moreofanobjectthanasubjectofdecisionsmadewithintheEurozone.Consequently,
someMemberStatesmighttrytobringforwardtheiraccessionintotheeuroarea.This
happenedinthecaseofSlovakia,Lithuania,LatviaandEstonia,whichjoinedtheEMU
intimesofcrisis(2009-2015).OtherMemberStateswouldoptforsecessionfrom
theEU,especiallyif,intheopinionoftheirelites,thisistheonlywayofmaintaining
relativeeconomicandpoliticalautonomy(Zielonka,2014:48,62).Itwasthecasusof
theUK(inits2016referendum).Thispossibleoutcomeofpoliticalsegmentationmay
strengthentheEMUandleadtogradualerosionoftheouterEUcircle.
40Mainresearchquestionsandhypotheses
Themostimportantresearchhypothesisthatwewouldliketoputforwardisthat
changesintroducedintotheintegrationprocessesduringtheeuroareacrisishavebeen
assumingthreeprincipaldirections.
First,theyarecharacterisedbythestrengtheningofintergovernmentalgovernance
andpoliticalauthorityofthelargestMemberStates,mostlyGermany,thoughtoalesser
extentalsoFrance.Thechangeisoccurringinformally,butpermeatestheofficial
institutionsandEUlawtoanever-greaterextent.Itisalsolinkedtothepoliticisation
ofgovernanceprocesses,inthiswaycorrespondingtoagreatextentwithFrench
conceptsofthefutureofEuropeanintegration.Oneofthemanifestationsofthistrend
isthehierarchyofpowerofthestrongestcountriesovertheweakeronesintheEU
arena(Jabko,2014:130).
Anotherexampleistheunequaldegreeofcontrolparticulargovernments(and
othernationalinstitutions)haveovertheirrespectivenationalpolicies,andespecially
fiscalpolicy.SomeMemberStatesmaintainorevenstrengthentheirsovereigntyover
budgetarypolicy.Germanycanbeacaseinpoint:undertheinfluenceoftheFederal
ConstitutionalCourtandtheBundestag,itstrovetomaintaincontroloverthefunds
fromGermantaxpayers,andtoreducethescopeofredistributionoffinancialresources
withintheEMU.ThecaseoftheMemberStatesreceivingsupportfromtheEuropean
fundsissubstantiallydifferent,astheyweresubjectedtostrictexternalauditwith
respecttotheirfiscalpolicies.Theywerealsoforcedtocarryoutanumberofsocially
difficultreformsinthisarea.Oneoftheeffectsofthesetrendsistheasymmetrical
distributionofbenefitsandcostsarisingoutofthefunctioningoftheEMUandtheEU
amongparticularMemberStates.FurthermoreitseemsclearthatEuropeansolidarity
isonthewane,withaidinstrumentsusedtostrengthentherelationalpowerofsome
countries(creditors)overothers(debtors).
28