The European Semester and the New Architecture of EU Socio-Economic Governance

ACCESS EUROPE workshop, co-organised by the Jean Monnet Chair in European and Transnational Governance

Workshop

The European Semester constitutes an important development in the architecture of EU socio-economic policy guidance and surveillance. It has given the EU institutions a more prominent and intrusive role than ever before in national economic, fiscal, and social policies. A distinguished group of international scholars will discuss the most urgent empirical and normative questions raised by the development of this emerging governance architecture.

The workshop examines the so-called ‘European Semester’ as a landmark in the evolution of EU economic and social governance. The European Semester integrates a wide range of governance instruments with different legal bases into a unified annual cycle.

International scholars  present their views on the current and future dynamics of this new governance architecture, including:

• Uwe Puetter (Central European University)
• Kenneth Armstrong (University of Cambridge)
• Bart Vanhercke (Observatoire Social Européen)
• Francesco Costamagna (University of Turin)
• Jonathan Zeitlin (University of Amsterdam)
• Deirdre Curtin (University of Amsterdam)
• Ben Crum (VU University Amsterdam)
• Sonja Bekker (Tilburg University)
• Maurizio Ferrera (University of Milan)

Together with an audience of scholars, students, policy practitioners and the interested public, they will discuss questions that concern the (changing) relationship between EU institutions and the Member States; the extent to which the European Semester advances social policy objectives or instead subordinates them to economic austerity and fiscal discipline; and the mechanisms of accountability within this new governance architecture.

Organisers

A workshop co-organized by Jonathan Zeitlin (Scientific Director of ACCESS EUROPE) and  Uwe Puetter (Director of the Centre for European Union Research, Central European University)

Registration

The workshop is open to scholars, students, policy practitioners, and the interested public.  As space is limited, participants should register in advance with the ACCESS EUROPE Programme Manager Douwe Truijens (d.g.truijens@uva.nl).  Lunch will be provided, and copies of the papers made available to registered participants.