Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership

Purpose: The independence of the economic policy of national states in the European Union is a relevant and politically controversial issue as notions of lost sovereignty are often evoked by populist political options. It is therefore important to distinctly outline the actual state of affairs. Met...

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Main Authors: Josip Lučev, Dario Cvrtila
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Economics and Business in Osijek 2021-01-01
Series:Ekonomski Vjesnik
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/378025
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author Josip Lučev
Dario Cvrtila
author_facet Josip Lučev
Dario Cvrtila
author_sort Josip Lučev
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: The independence of the economic policy of national states in the European Union is a relevant and politically controversial issue as notions of lost sovereignty are often evoked by populist political options. It is therefore important to distinctly outline the actual state of affairs. Methodology: Methodology is descriptive and comparative. The article starts by surveying traditional and recent political, institutional and economic arguments on policy convergence in areas undergoing economic integration. The article continues by contrasting the complex notion of economic sovereignty and the ongoing development of economic policy constrictions of EU (and eurozone) membership. Croatia is then compared to relevant economies in key economic policies in response to the crisis of 2008/09 in order to evaluate the maneuvering room left by the various policy constrictions. Results: Particular attention is devoted to the comparison of exchange rate policy, fiscal policy and monetary policy employed by member states in response to the crisis of 2008/09. While economic independence in terms of crisis management is clearly reduced by virtue of EU and eurozone membership, its effects should not be felt as a change of policy direction in the case of Croatia. Conclusion: We conclude that the policy restrictions imposed by EU membership and expected entry into the eurozone are in line with economic restraints and exhibited national policy preferences prior to EU accession.
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spelling doaj.art-5c803e3049624e35bdb3c3f74ebf6af02024-04-15T17:03:17ZengFaculty of Economics and Business in OsijekEkonomski Vjesnik0353-359X1847-22062021-01-0134122524010.51680/ev.34.1.17Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membershipJosip Lučev0Dario Cvrtila1University of Zagreb, Faculty of Political Science, Zagreb, CroatiaLibertas International University, Zagreb, CroatiaPurpose: The independence of the economic policy of national states in the European Union is a relevant and politically controversial issue as notions of lost sovereignty are often evoked by populist political options. It is therefore important to distinctly outline the actual state of affairs. Methodology: Methodology is descriptive and comparative. The article starts by surveying traditional and recent political, institutional and economic arguments on policy convergence in areas undergoing economic integration. The article continues by contrasting the complex notion of economic sovereignty and the ongoing development of economic policy constrictions of EU (and eurozone) membership. Croatia is then compared to relevant economies in key economic policies in response to the crisis of 2008/09 in order to evaluate the maneuvering room left by the various policy constrictions. Results: Particular attention is devoted to the comparison of exchange rate policy, fiscal policy and monetary policy employed by member states in response to the crisis of 2008/09. While economic independence in terms of crisis management is clearly reduced by virtue of EU and eurozone membership, its effects should not be felt as a change of policy direction in the case of Croatia. Conclusion: We conclude that the policy restrictions imposed by EU membership and expected entry into the eurozone are in line with economic restraints and exhibited national policy preferences prior to EU accession.https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/378025economic policy constrictionsmonetary policyfiscal policyEUCroatia
spellingShingle Josip Lučev
Dario Cvrtila
Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership
Ekonomski Vjesnik
economic policy constrictions
monetary policy
fiscal policy
EU
Croatia
title Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership
title_full Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership
title_fullStr Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership
title_full_unstemmed Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership
title_short Economic policy independence in EU member states: Political economy of Croatian membership
title_sort economic policy independence in eu member states political economy of croatian membership
topic economic policy constrictions
monetary policy
fiscal policy
EU
Croatia
url https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/378025
work_keys_str_mv AT josiplucev economicpolicyindependenceineumemberstatespoliticaleconomyofcroatianmembership
AT dariocvrtila economicpolicyindependenceineumemberstatespoliticaleconomyofcroatianmembership