EMU and political union revisited: what we learnt from the euro's second decade

In spite of expectations to the contrary, Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) did not serve as a leaven for political union during the euro's second decade. Reforms to Euro Area governance enacted in this period, though significant, stopped well short of the degree of economic and political integration associated with this project. EU policy-makers nonetheless showed a new willingness to talk about political union, albeit in ways that stretched the meaning of this previously taboo term. Such talk, which was driven by financial market pressure and political positioning between member states at the height of the Euro Crisis, had limited bearing on Euro Area governance. But it may have been a factor in the United Kingdom's referendum vote to leave the EU. A lesson for EU policy-makers is that they should use the term political union more sparingly if at all.