Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
TomaszGrzegorzGrosse
tochallengetheCommunitymethodandthepowerofsupranationalinstitutions.It
seemsthatpoliticalsegmentationprojectsposeathreatofdisintegration,oratleast
canleadinthedirectionofachangeintheexistingCommunitymodelofintegration
(Ziółkowska,inthisvolume).
AnimportantmeasureresortedtobyFrenchdiplomacyduringthecrisiswasan
actualstrengtheningofpoliticalsegmentationintheEU,albeitreferredto,withlimited
accuracy,asastrivingfortheestablishmentofuatwo-speedEurope.”Theobjective
oftheFrenchwastoutilisethecrisistostrengthensegmentation,andthusachieve
permanentdivisionoftheEUintotwointegrationcircles.Thisisconfusing,given
thewaytheworduspeed”suggestsintegrationonlydifferentiatedtemporarily.Theeuro
areawasmeanttobethecoreofthoseprocesses,whichwouldleadtoimprovementof
itsinstitutionalstructure(Pisani-Ferry,2014).
GermanywasinfactopposedtothedeepeningofEuropeanintegrationwithin
theEurozoneonly,asthiswasseenasstrengtheningthegeopoliticalpositionofParis
anditsalliesinEuropeexcessively.Germanythusemphasisedthenecessityfornewsolu-
tionsregardingEMUtoextendtoMemberStateseagertoadopttheEuropeancurrency
inthefuture,ortoparticipatevoluntarilyinnegotiatedagreements.Polandwas,for
example,involvedinthis,beingatthetimeacloseallyofGermanyontheEuropean
stage.
Duringthecrisis,thestatusoftheEurogroupandthesupportextendedtoitwere
enhancedthroughthedevelopmentofadministrativeapparatus.Anewinstitutionwas
establishedintheshapeofthesummitoftheeuroarealeaders.Aseparatestructure
ofintergovernmentalinstitutions,dedicatedonlytoEurozonemembers,wasthus
completed.SpecialsupportinstrumentswereintroducedfortheEMUonly,e.g.theEuro-
peanStabilityMechanism.Informalmechanismsofpower,givingpreferentialtreatment
todecision-makersasregardsEMU,werestrengthened.Forexample,somebelieve
(Ondarza,2013b)thatonlyapoliticianfromoneoftheeuroareacountriesshould
headtheEuropeanCommission.13
AdebatestartedontheestablishmentofaseparatechamberfortheMonetary
UnionwithintheEP
,andaseparatebudgetfortheEurozone(theso-calledEMU
fiscalcapacity);aswellasonthedivisionoftheCommissionintoCommissioners
representingtheEMUandtherestoftheEU(FinalReport,2012;VanRompuyetal.,
2012;Junckeretal.,2015).TheappointmentofaMinisterofFinancefortheeuroarea
withintheEuropeanCommissionwasputforward.Inpractice,informalprocesses
ofpoliticalsegmentationintotwointegrationcirclesareoccurringinmanyofthein-
stitutionsmentionedabove(e.g.officialsfromtheEurozonecountriesdealwithmat-
tersconcerningtheEMU)(Ondarza,2013b).Theestablishmentofthebanking
13
AnexceptiontothisrulewastheappointmentofDonaldTuskasthePresidentoftheEuropean
Council(2014).However,eventhiswasinessenceanexpressionofGermany’sintentiontoleadPoland
intotheEMUassoonaspossible.Moreover,theburdenofinitiativeandpoliticalcoordinationrelatingto
theeuroareashiftedinthedirectionoftheEurogroup(andJeroenDijsselbloem,itsthenPresident).
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