Rebalancing the governance of the euro area

Between 2010 and 2014, the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) was the subject of a series of reforms, more than ever before in such a short time span. Yet, two years after this major legislative effort, few policy-makers would dare to claim ‘mission accomplished’. This paper outlines and discusses alternative possible directions for the reform of euro area’s economic governance. To this end, the reforms introduced in recent years, as well as the main shortcomings of the resulting policy system, are briefly reviewed. The paper then proceeds with a presentation and analysis of alternative templates for governance reform and concludes with proposals for a practical agenda.