Making the EMU: The Politics of Budgetary Surveillance and the Enforcement of Maastricht - Hardcover

Savage, James D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199278407 ISBN 13: 9780199278404

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 2004

Synopsis

The Maastricht Treaty and the Stability Growth Pact demand that EU member states comply with their famous deficit and debt requirements of 3 and 60 per cent of GDP. Yet, how can the EU's leaders be certain that these targets are met? Is a 3 per cent deficit in Belgium equivalent to one in Italy or France?

Making the EMU explores how the Treaty's budgetary surveillance procedure monitors member state budgetary policies, harmonizes their budgetary data, and effectively determines which member states qualified for member status and are subject to the Pact's sanctions. This book provides the first examination of how the EU entrusted the credibility of these critical budgetary figures to a relatively minor European Commission agency, and what effect the surveillance proceudre has on the making of the EMU and the enforcement of Maastricht.

About this title

Review

Savage's book is an impressively researched and surprisingly engaging account of a relative arcane subject. It is a convincing application of delegation theory, used to reveal a hitherto unexplored but clearly crucial element in the complicated process leading to the start of EMU's stage III and the application of Stability and Growth Pact rules and Broad Economic Policy Guidelines which form the core of macroeconomic policy coordination in the Euor-zone. (West European Politics)

The unique blend of legal and economic expertise, in combination with elite interviews and work shadowing, enables the book to come to an informed and seemingly logical conlusion. I can enthusiastically recommend this contribution to the ongoing debate on the EU's involvement in the harmonization of fiscal and monetary policies. (Journal of Common Market Studies)

Savage's careful account of the politics of budgetary surveillance is a must-read for anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of how the EU works and the impact of EMU on budgetary practices in the member states. (Perspectives on Politics)

James D. Savage's contribution to this debate could hardly be more timely... The author presents the first concise and in-depth analysis of the budgetary surveillance procedure and Eurostat's involvement in its implementation. (Journal of Common Market Studies)

Savage presents his empirical evidence in a convincing and readable style...an extremely enlightening book. (Political Studies Review)

About the Author

James D. Savage is author of Making the EMU: The Politics of Budgetary Surveillance and the Enforcement of Maastricht; Funding Science in America: Congress, Universities, and the Politics of the Academic Pork Barrel; and Balanced Budgets and American Politics. He has written articles appearing in such journals as the Journal of Politics, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Comparative Political Studies, and Public Administration Review. He is the recipient of the APSA's Harold D. Lasswell dissertation prize, Olin-Bradley post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard University, Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs fellowship, Fulbright-European Union Affairs fellowship, and other fellowships and awards. James D. Savage is currently Professor of Politics, University of Virginia.

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199278407
• ISBN 13: 9780199278404
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256