The European Parliament as an Accountability Forum
Overseeing the Economic and Monetary Union

An examination of executive actors' accountability for EU economic decisions in the aftermath of the euro crisis.

Adina Akbik (Author)

9781108835756, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 February 2022

312 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.5 kg

This book provides the first in-depth empirical study of the European Parliament's powers of scrutiny of the executive in the European Union (EU) political system, focusing on the politically salient field of the Economic and Monetary Union. The expansion of executive decision-making during the euro crisis was accompanied by an empowerment of the European Parliament through legislative oversight. This book examines how the European Parliament exercises that oversight on a day-to-day basis and thus contributes to political accountability at the EU level. Building on an innovative analytical framework for the study of parliamentary questions and answers, Adina Akbik sheds light on the European Parliament's possibilities and limitations to hold EU executive bodies accountable more generally. Case studies cover the period 2012 to 2019 and include the European Central Bank in banking supervision, the European Commission, the Eurogroup, and the Economic and Financial Affairs Council. This title is Open Access.

1. Introduction
2. The economic and monetary union, the crisis, and political accountability
3. Studying accountability at the European Parliament: A legislative oversight approach
4. Overseeing the European Central Bank in banking supervision
5. Overseeing the European Commission in the European semester
6. The economic dialogues with the ECOFIN Council and the Eurogroup
7. Conclusions: comparative evaluation and necessary reforms.

Subject Areas: International economic & trade law [LBBM], Law [L]