EMU and structural reform

This chapter considers the role of economic and structural reform in EMU, starting with the uneven governance of EMU’s economic and monetary parts set out in the Maastricht blueprint. It examines how soft coordination under the heading of the Lisbon Strategy fared before the sovereign debt crisis. It proceeds with analysing the changes that the eruption of the sovereign debt crisis in 2010 brought about, looking into the Europe 2020 Strategy, the Euro Plus Pact, and the implications of the emergence of market pressure and conditionality. In this context the special case of Greece is considered. Adopting a forward-looking perspective, the chapter also sheds light on structural reform needs from the point of view of a durable crisis exit.