IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jcmkts/v63y2025i2p467-484.html

Failing Forward in European Economic Governance: The Cyclicality of European Integration and Institutional Competition in the COVID‐19 Crisis

Author

Listed:
  • Joscha Abels

Abstract

The European Union's (EU's) response to the pandemic has been accompanied by reconfigurations in its institutional hierarchy, affecting the sites where institutional reforms are prepared and implemented. Whereas the Eurogroup drove reform during the euro crisis, the Commission had a more pronounced role in the development and implementation of pandemic instruments. This article ties in with failing‐forward arguments that view European integration as cyclical, arguing that this cyclicality also concerns the institutional dynamics in European economic governance. Based on expert interviews, official documents and reports, the analysis reconstructs and compares the institutional configurations during the euro crisis and the pandemic. Its findings suggest three modifications to ‘failing forward’: first, incomplete intergovernmental decisions are often the result of dominant particular interests rather than ‘lowest common denominator’ solutions; second, supranational bodies can exploit the delegitimization of intergovernmental solutions; and third, ad hoc measures can prolong the failing‐forward cycle and displace lasting integration steps.

Suggested Citation

  • Joscha Abels, 2025. "Failing Forward in European Economic Governance: The Cyclicality of European Integration and Institutional Competition in the COVID‐19 Crisis," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(2), pages 467-484, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:63:y:2025:i:2:p:467-484
    DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13588
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.13588
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/jcms.13588?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesus Ferreiro & Felipe Serrano, 2021. "The COVID Health Crisis and the Fiscal and Monetary Policies in the Euro Area," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(3), pages 212-225, July.
    2. Christopher J. Bickerton & Dermot Hodson & Uwe Puetter, 2015. "The New Intergovernmentalism: European Integration in the Post-Maastricht Era," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(4), pages 703-722, July.
    3. Martin Höpner & Alexander Spielau, 2018. "Better Than the Euro? The European Monetary System (1979–1998)," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 160-173, March.
    4. Claudius Gräbner & Philipp Heimberger & Jakob Kapeller, 2020. "Pandemic pushes polarisation: the Corona crisis and macroeconomic divergence in the Eurozone," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 47(3), pages 425-438, September.
    5. Antonis A. Ellinas & Ezra N. Suleiman, 2011. "Supranationalism in a Transnational Bureaucracy: The Case of the European Commission," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 923-947, September.
    6. Hans Vollaard, 2014. "Explaining European Disintegration," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(5), pages 1142-1159, September.
    7. Mark Dawson, 2015. "The Legal and Political Accountability Structure of ‘Post‐Crisis’ EU Economic Governance," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(5), pages 976-993, September.
    8. László Andor, 2020. "SURE — EU Capacity for Stabilising Employment and Incomes in the Pandemic," Intereconomics: Review of European Economic Policy, Springer;ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics;Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), vol. 55(3), pages 139-142, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brigitte Pircher & Karl Loxbo, 2020. "Compliance with EU Law in Times of Disintegration: Exploring Changes in Transposition and Enforcement in the EU Member States between 1997 and 2016," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 1270-1287, September.
    2. Tomas Adam & Oxana Babecka Kucharcukova & Jan Babecky & Vojtech Belling & Sona Benecka & Jan Bruha & Kamil Galuscak & Tomas Holub & Eva Hromadkova & Lubos Komarek & Zlatuse Komarkova & Kamila Kulhava , 2015. "Analyses of the Czech Republic's Current Economic Alignment with the Euro Area 2015," Occasional Publications - Edited Volumes, Czech National Bank, Research and Statistics Department, number as15 edited by Kamila Kulhava & Lucie Matejkova.
    3. Christian Kreuder-Sonnen, 2016. "Beyond Integration Theory: The (Anti-)Constitutional Dimension of European Crisis Governance," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(6), pages 1350-1366, November.
    4. Lindner, Vincent & Eckert, Sandra & Nölke, Andreas, 2022. "Political science research on the reasons for the (non) adoption and (non) implementation of EMU reform proposals: The state of the art," SAFE Working Paper Series 339, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    5. Angelos Angelou, 2023. "Dysfunction and Pathology in Brussels: The European Commission and the Politics of Debt Restructuring," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(4), pages 1082-1099, July.
    6. Valerie D'Erman & Amy Verdun, 2022. "An Introduction: “Macroeconomic Policy Coordination and Domestic Politics: Policy Coordination in the EU from the European Semester to the Covid‐19 Crisis”," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 3-20, January.
    7. Kreuder-Sonnen, Christian & Zangl, Bernhard, 2016. "Varieties of contested multilateralism: positive and negative consequences for the constitutionalisation of multilateral institutions," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 5(3), pages 327-343.
    8. Joerges, Christian & Kreuder-Sonnen, Christian, 2016. "Europe and European studies in crisis: Inter-disciplinary and intra-disciplinary schisms in legal and political science," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Global Governance SP IV 2016-109, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    9. Luuk Middelaar, 2016. "The Return of Politics – The European Union after the crises in the eurozone and Ukraine," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(3), pages 495-507, May.
    10. Eric Tremolada & Carlos Tassara & Olivier Costa, 2019. "Colombia y la Unión Europea. Una asociación cada vez más estrecha," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Derecho, number 1101.
    11. Torbjørg Jevnaker & Barbara Saerbeck, 2019. "EU Agencies and the Energy Union: Providing Useful Information to the Commission?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(1), pages 60-69.
    12. Maschke, Andreas, 2024. "Talking exports: The representation of Germany's current account in newspaper media," MPIfG Discussion Paper 24/1, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.
    13. Nikolai Gad & Eugénia C. Heldt & Robert Csehi, 2025. "Divergent Attitudes of Eurosceptic Parties Towards Intergovernmental and Supranational EU Institutions," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(4), pages 1259-1279, July.
    14. Moritz Rehm, 2021. "Tug of War over Financial Assistance: Which Way Forward for Eurozone Stability Mechanisms?," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(2), pages 173-184.
    15. V. Sidenko, 2017. "The crisis processes in the EU development: origins and prospects," Economy and Forecasting, Valeriy Heyets, issue 1, pages 7-30.
    16. Paul Copeland, 2021. "The Ordinary Legislative Procedure in a Post-Brexit EU: The Case of Social Europe," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(1), pages 69-78.
    17. Jeffrey Rosamond & Claire Dupont, 2021. "The European Council, the Council, and the European Green Deal," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 348-359.
    18. Isabel Camisão & Paulo Vila Maior, 2025. "A Convincing Narrative to Control the Crisis Response? The Role of the President of the European Commission During the COVID‐19 Pandemic," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(3), pages 821-838, May.
    19. Beetz, Jan Pieter & Rossi, Enzo, 2015. "EU legitimacy in a realist key," Discussion Papers, Center for Global Constitutionalism SP IV 2015-802, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    20. Davide Villani & Marta Fana, 2021. "Productive integration, economic recession and employment in Europe: an assessment based on vertically integrated sectors," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 48(2), pages 137-157, June.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jcmkts:v:63:y:2025:i:2:p:467-484. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0021-9886 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.