Mak, Jeannette --- "Informality as an asset? The case of EMU" [2004] ELECD 33; in Christiansen, Thomas; Piattoni, Simona (eds), "Informal Governance in the European Union" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2004)

Book Title: Informal Governance in the European Union

Editor(s): Christiansen, Thomas; Piattoni, Simona

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781843763512

Section: Chapter 11

Section Title: Informality as an asset? The case of EMU

Author(s): Mak, Jeannette

Number of pages: 18

Extract:

11. Informality as an asset? The case of
EMU
Jeannette Mak

INTRODUCTION
Following the rationale, laid out in the introduction of this book, that informal
governance may be regarded as a mechanism that holds together the contra-
dictory system of the EU and makes it work against all odds, it seems obvious
that Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) should be regarded as a crucial
case study in this respect. It concerns a policy area with a particularly complex
and vague division of competences that deals with a highly political and politi-
cized subject, in which large and diverging interests are at stake. An enormous
institutionalization and procedural development has taken place in a relatively
short period. On the one hand, this may have demanded pragmatic yet rational
solutions to unforeseen problems. On the other hand, this may have resulted in
ad hoc provisions, which in turn have led to institutional voids that could be
easily filled by informal methods. To what extent have openings been created
for new modes of interaction between the main actors in the policy field? How
has this changed relative positions, and what is its effect on methods of gover-
nance? And finally, how conscious have the various players been of this trans-
formation? In other words, has this been regarded as a desirable change, and
if so, by whom, and to what extent?
`Informal governance' refers to exchanges that are non-codified and not
publicly sanctioned. With regard to EMU, it is not too difficult ...