Managing constraint: frugal opposition to European fiscal solidarity

• Published in: Journal of European public policy Vol. 31; no. 10; pp. 3275 - 3298
• Main Authors: Bokhorst, David, Schoeller, Magnus G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 02.10.2024; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Central government; COVID-19; European integration; Governments; Legislatures; Next Generation EU; Politicisation; Politics; Special Issue: Escaping the Politics Trap? EU Integration Pathways Beyond the Polycrisis. Guest Editors: Francesco Nicoli and Jonathan Zeitlin; Governments; Next Generation EU; Politicisation; European integration
• ISSN: 1350-1763; 1466-4429
• DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2024.2332697

The management of the COVID-19 crisis and, in particular, the Next Generation EU fund have shown that European leaders can find integrationist policy solutions despite increasing politicisation at home where democratic constraints may lead to a feared 'multilevel politics trap'. Therefore, we ask whether and how national governments can manage such constraints and thus spring or avoid the trap. Theoretically, we argue that the agency of governments is a crucial factor for understanding the varying dynamics of politicisation in regional integration, as governments can raise or lower domestic audience costs by strategically interacting with their parliament or media. Empirically, we probe the plausibility of our theoretical propositions by examining constraint management and position-taking in Austria and the Netherlands in the context of European fiscal solidarity. Our results show that there is no inevitably self-reinforcing multilevel politics trap but that the effects of domestic constraint are, to a considerable extent, contingent on the agency of national governments.