From the rule of law to the rule of rules

Technocracy and the crisis of EU governance

Bibliographic Data

ID6408077
AuthorsNicole Scicluna (0000-0002-7632-5309, University of Hong Kong, corresponding author), Stefan Auer (0000-0002-2722-3090, University of Hong Kong)
Year2019
Volume42
Issue7
Pages1420-1442
Publication date2019-11-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402382.2019.1584843
OpenAlexW2924535095
LanguageEN
Citations received37
References cited45

This article focuses on two trends emerging through the eurozone crisis, both of which diminish the quality of democracy in the EU and its member states. Firstly, the crisis has led to an increased reliance on non-majoritarian institutions, such as the ECB, at the expense of democratic accountability. Secondly, the crisis has led to a new emphasis on coercive enforcement at the expense of the voluntary cooperation that previously characterised (and sustained) the EU as a community of law. Thus, the ECB's (over-)empowerment is a synecdoche of a wider problem: The EU's tendency to resort to technocratic governance in the face of challenges that require political contestation. In the absence of opportunities for democratic contestation, EU emergency governance – Integration through Crisis – oscillates between moments of heightened politicisation, in which ad hoc decisions are justified as necessary, and the (sometimes coercive) appeal to the depoliticised rule of rules

Accountability · Appeal · Corporate governance · Democracy · Economic policy · Economics · Enforcement · European integration · European union · Financial crisis · Intergovernmentalism · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Rule of law · Technocracy · European and International Law Studies · European Criminal Justice and Data Protection · European Union Policy and Governance · Law · Public Administration

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