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Regulation Theory and the Political Economy of the European Union

Author

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  • Hans-Jürgen Bieling
  • Johannes Jäger
  • Magnus Ryner

Abstract

European integration theory considers to what extent the EU can realize a telos where American pluralism is the template. Not without merits, but considering the financial and eurozone crises fatally, such perspectives elide power relations and attendant contradictions and irrationalities that are constitutive of transatlantic integration itself. Regulation theory, which synthesizes the reformist ethos of Europe's postwar statist tradition and Marxism, and which has produced a considerable body of analysis of the EU published at the margins of EU scholarship, offers a compelling alternative that potentially overcomes these shortcomings. This article critically assesses how regulation theory has interpreted the single market, financial liberalization and EMU as a suppression of alternatives to neoliberal post-Fordism, or finance-led accumulation, in Europe. It argues that understanding the EU's current conjuncture of eurozone crisis management requires a neo-Gramscian extension of regulation theory, stressing transnational patterns of capitalist accumulation and power relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Hans-Jürgen Bieling & Johannes Jäger & Magnus Ryner, 2016. "Regulation Theory and the Political Economy of the European Union," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 53-69, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:54:y:2016:i:1:p:53-69
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Andreas Bieler, 2005. "European Integration and the Transnational Restructuring of Social Relations: The Emergence of Labour as a Regional Actor?," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 461-484, September.
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    1. Buch-Hansen, Hubert, 2018. "The Prerequisites for a Degrowth Paradigm Shift: Insights from Critical Political Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 157-163.
    2. Christian Scholz‐Alvarado, 2022. "The Politics of Labour that Underlies European Monetary Integration," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1374-1390, September.
    3. repec:osf:osfxxx:kwrzg_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Lartey, Theophilus & Uddin, Moshfique & Danso, Albert & Wood, Geoffrey, 2022. "CEO overconfidence and IRS attention," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Heidebrecht, Sebastian, 2024. "Digital Policy and the Strengthened Role of the European Central Executive. An Introductory Overview," OSF Preprints kwrzg, Center for Open Science.
    6. Etienne Schneider, 2023. "NextGenerationEU and the Future of the European Monetary Union: Shifting Interests and New Fractures in the German Power Bloc," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(5), pages 1298-1317, September.
    7. Claes Axel Belfrage & Markus Kallifatides, 2018. "The politicisation of macroprudential regulation: The critical Swedish case," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(3), pages 709-729, May.
    8. Jakub Szabó, 2026. "A choice for European monetary integration: politics of exchange rates between EMS and EMU," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-23, December.

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