The emerging system of re-insurance in the EU: beyond negative and positive integration

Over the years of repeated crises, a system of re-insurance for EU member states has evolved, providing a secondary safety net when disaster strikes. This is an alternative to fiscal centralisation. Re-insurance of member states qualifies the asymmetry hypothesis: positive and negative integration is not a complete distinction. The blockage that according to the asymmetry theorem favours negative integration here becomes a driver of positive integration when facing the threat of financial panic. Market pre-empting integration means that policy-makers, aware of their differences, agree on mutual protection that preserves their differences.