¹ For an overview on this theme see, for example, Hinarejos, A., The Euro Area Crisis in Constitutional Perspective (Oxford University Press 2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Tuori, K. and Tuori, K., The Eurozone Crisis: A Constitutional Analysis (Cambridge University Press 2014)Google Scholar; Armstrong, K.A., ‘The New Governance of EU Fiscal Discipline’, 38 EL Rev (2013) p. 601 Google Scholar.

² ECJ 23 April 1986, Case C-294/83, Parti écologiste ‘Les Verts’ v European Parliament, para. 23; amongst subsequent judgments, see for example ECJ 25 July 2002, Case C-50/00, Unión de Pequeños Agricultores v Council of the European Union, paras. 38-40; ECJ 3 September 2008, Cases C-502/05 P and C-415/05 P, Kadi and Al Barakaat International Foundation v Council and Commission, para. 281; GC 8 October 2008, Case T-411/06, Sogelma v EAR, paras. 36-37. On the ‘Les Verts’ judgment, see, amongst others, Lenaerts, K., ‘The Basic Constitutional Character of a Community Based on the Rule of Law’, in M.P. Maduro and L. Azoulai (eds.), The Past and Future of EU Law (Hart Publishing 2010) p. 293-315 Google Scholar.

³ ECJ July 2002, Case C-50/00 Unión de Pequeños Agricultores v Council of the European Union, para. 38.

⁴ In general, amongst many, see Pech, L., ‘“A Union Founded on the Rule of Law”: Meaning and Reality of the Rule of Law as a Constitutional Principle of EU Law’, 6 EuConst (2010) p. 359-396 Google Scholar; Mayer, F.C., ‘Europa als Rechtsgemeinschaft’, in G.F. Schuppert et al. (eds.), Europawissenschaft (Nomos 2005) p. 429-487 Google Scholar; see also Dehousse, R., The European Court of Justice (Macmillan 1998)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, in particular chs. 2 and 3.

⁵ Weiler, J.H.H., ‘The Community System: the Dual Character of Supranationalism’, 1 Yearbook of European Law (1981) p. 267-306 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁶ See e.g. Commission, European Governance – A White Paper, COM (2001) 428 def, 5.

⁷ Dehousse, R. et al., The ‘Community Method’: Obstinate or Obsolete? (Palgrave Macmillan 2011)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁸ For a review, see Bast, J. ‘Legal Instruments and Judicial Protection’, in A. von Bogdandy and J. Bast (eds.), Principles of European Constitutional Law (Hart Publishing, Beck Verlag 2009) p. 345-397 Google Scholar. This obviously does not exclude the fact that also the instruments of soft law can play an important role: see, for example, Stefan, O., Soft Law in Court: Competition Law, State Aid and the Court of Justice of the European Union (Wolters Kluwer 2013)Google Scholar.

⁹ Weiler, J.H.H., ‘The Transformation of Europe’, 100 The Yale Law Journal (1991) p. 2403-2483 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹⁰ Joerges, C. and Neyer, J., ‘From Intergovernmental Bargaining to Deliberative Political Processes: The Constitutionalisation of Comitology’, 3 ELJ (1997) p. 273 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; C. Joerges and J. Neyer, ‘Deliberative Supranationalism’ Revisited, EUI LAW, 2006/20; Joerges, C., ‘The Idea of a Three-Dimensional Conflicts Law as Constitutional Form’, in C. Joerges and E.-U. Petersmann (eds.), Constitutionalism, Multilevel Trade Governance and International Economic Law (Hart Publishing 2011) p. 413 ffGoogle Scholar.

¹¹ Joerges and Neyer 1997, supra n. 10, p. 294.

¹² Börzel, T., ‘European Governance: Negotiation and Competition in the Shadow of Hierarchy’, 48 JCMS (2010) p. 191 Google Scholar. It can happen that disagreements arise for which no specific rules of composition have been established by EU law; however, these are exceptional circumstances which, until today, have not called into question the overall resistance of the system. See, for example, the decision of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, which declared a judgment of the ECJ inapplicable: Zbíral, R., ‘Czech Constitutional Court, judgment of 31 January 2012, Pl. ÚS 5/12 – A Legal revolution or Negligible Episode?’, 49 CMLR (2012) p. 1475 ffGoogle Scholar, as well as Komárek, J., ‘Playing With Matches: the Czech Constitutional Court Declares a Judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU Ultra Vires, 8 EuConst (2012) p. 323-337 Google Scholar. For an overview, see I. Pernice, ‘The Autonomy of the EU Legal Order’, WHI - PAPER 08/2013, p. 11.

¹³ For all, see Jansen, O.D.M.L. and Schöndorf-Haubold, B. et al., The European Composite Administration (Antwerp 2011)Google Scholar.

¹⁴ De Lucia, L., ‘Conflict and cooperation within European composite administration (between Philia and Eris)’, 5 Review of European Administrative Law (2012) p. 43-77 Google Scholar.

¹⁵ ECJ 14 November 2013, Case C-514/11 P and 605/11 P, LPN and Finland v Commission, para. 63. See Prete, L. and Smulders, B., ‘The Coming of Age of Infringement Proceedings’, 47 CMLR (2010) p. 9 Google Scholar.

¹⁶ In general terms, Majone, G., ‘Delegation of Regulatory Powers in a Mixed Polity’, 8 ELJ (2002) p. 319 ffGoogle Scholar.

¹⁷ This is very clear, for example, in the jurisprudence and the legislation regarding the single market: see Weiler, J.H.H., ‘The Constitution of the Common Market Place: Text and Context’, in P. Craig and G. de Bùrca (eds.), The Evolution of the Free Movement of Goods in the Evolution of EU Law (Oxford University Press 1999) p. 349-375 Google Scholar.

¹⁸ See e.g. Maduro, M.P., We The Court. The European Court of Justice and the European Economic Constitution (Hart Publishing 1998)Google Scholar, especially chs 4 and 5.

¹⁹ Armstrong, K.A., ‘The Character of EU Law and Governance: From “Community Method” to New Modes of Governance’, 64 Current Legal Problems (2011) p. 179 ffCrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dawson, M., ‘Three Waves of New Governance in the European Union’, 36 EL Rev (2011) p. 208 ffGoogle Scholar.

²⁰ Sabel, C.F. and Zeitlin, J, ‘Learning from Difference: The New Architecture of Experimentalist Governance in the EU’, 14 ELJ (2008) p. 271-327 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Trubek, D.M. and Trubek, L.G., ‘New Governance and Legal Regulation: Complementarity, Rivalry, and Transformation’, 13 Columbia Journal of European Law (2007) p. 539-564 Google Scholar; de Búrca, G. and Scott, J., Law and New Governance in the EU and the US (Hart Publishing 2006)Google Scholar; Scott, J. and Trubek, D., ‘Mind the Gap: Law and New Approaches to Governance in the European Union’, 8 ELJ (2002) p. 1-18 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

²¹ Armstrong, supra n. 19, p. 179-181.

²² Arrowsmith, J. et al., ‘What Can “Benchmarking” Offer the Open Method of Co-ordination?’, 11 JEPP (2004) p. 311-328 Google Scholar; for a critical vision of the whole area, see C. Joerges and M. Weimar, ‘A Crisis of Executive Managerialism in the EU: No Alternative?’, Maastricht Faculty of Law Working Paper 2012/7; Joerges, C., ‘What is Left of the European Economic Constitution? A Melancholic Eulogy’, 30 EL Rev (2005) p. 461-489 Google Scholar, Haahr, J.H., ‘Open co-ordination as Advanced Liberal Government’, 11 JEPP (2004) p. 209-230 Google Scholar.

²³ Craig, P., EU Administrative Law (Oxford University Press 2012) p. 195-201 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Hodson, D., ‘Macroeconomic Co-ordination in the Euro Area: the Scope and Limits of the Open Method’, 11 JEPP (2004) p. 231-248 Google Scholar; Hodson, D. and Maher, I., ‘The Open Method as a New Mode of Governance: The Case of Soft Economic Policy Co-ordination’, 39 JCMS (2001) p. 719-746 Google Scholar.

²⁴ Hodson, D. and Maher, I., ‘Soft Law and Sanctions: Economic Policy Co-ordination and Reform of the Stability and Growth Pact’, 11 JEPP (2004) p. 798-813 Google Scholar.

²⁵ Following the judgment of the ECJ 13 July 2004, Case C-27/04, Commission v Council, the Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure was made more flexible: see Council Regulation (EC) No 1055/2005 of 27 June 2005 amending Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies. See the summary by Craig, supra n. 23, at p. 200.

²⁶ See Tuori and Tuori, supra n. 1, chs 2 and 7; for a different perspective see K.A. Armstrong, ‘Differentiated Economic Governance and the Reshaping of Dominium-Law’, in M. Adams et al. (eds.), The Constitutionalization of European Budgetary Constraints (Hart Publishing 2014) p. 65-83.

²⁷ See Tuori and Tuori, supra n. 1, at p. 101-104 and 162-168.

²⁸ Craig, P., ‘The Financial Crisis, the EU Institutional Order and Constitutional Responsibility’, in F. Fabbrini, et al. (eds.), What Form of Government for the European Union and the Eurozone? (Hart Publishing 2015) p. 27-31 Google Scholar; Dawson, M., ‘The Legal and Political Accountability Structure of “Post-Crisis” EU Economic Governance’, 53 JCMS (2015) p. 976-993 Google Scholar; Lenaerts, K., ‘EMU and the EU’s constitutional framework’, 39 EL Rev (2014) p. 753-769 Google Scholar; K. Tuori, The European Financial Crisis – Constitutional Aspects and Implications, EUI Working Paper LAW 2012/28, p. 10 ff. See also the Communication from the Commission, ‘Economic governance review. Report on the application of Regulations (EU) No 1173/2011, 1174/2011, 1175/2011, 1176/2011, 1177/2011, 472/2013 and 473/2013’, COM(2014) 905 final.

²⁹ E.g. Tuori and Tuori, supra n. 1, p. 162-168.

³⁰ Regulation (EU) No 473/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on common provisions for monitoring and assessing draft budgetary plans and ensuring the correction of excessive deficit of the Member States in the euro area, Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 of 7 July 1997 on the strengthening of the surveillance of budgetary positions and the surveillance and coordination of economic policies (consolidated version) and Council Regulation (EC) No 1467/97 of 7 July 1997 on speeding up and clarifying the implementation of the excessive deficit procedure (consolidated version).

³¹ Regulation (EU) No 1176/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the prevention and correction of macroeconomic imbalances.

³² Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013 on the strengthening of economic and budgetary surveillance of Member States in the euro area experiencing or threatened with serious difficulties with respect to their financial stability.

³³ See for example Art. 6, Regulation No. 1466/97 and Art. 3 ff, Regulation No. 1467/97.

³⁴ Regulation (EU) No. 1173/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2011 on the effective enforcement of budgetary surveillance in the euro area.

³⁵ To cite two examples: in the report for 2015 on the last in-depth review on the prevention and correction of Italian macroeconomic imbalances, the Commission outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the national education system: Commission, ‘Macroeconomic Imbalances. Country Report – Italy 2015’, p. 61 ff (available at <ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2015/pdf/ocp219_en.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016). In addition, the Council recommendations on the 2015 Italian national reform programme adopted on the 15 June 2015 (9246/15) inviting the Italian Republic to ‘Adopt the planned national strategic plan for ports and logistics’ (para. 2), and ‘adopt and implement the pending laws aimed at improving the institutional framework and modernising the public administration. Revise the statute of limitations by mid-2015. Ensure that the reforms adopted to improve the efficiency of civil justice help reduce the length of proceedings’ (para. 3), ‘implement the simplification agenda for 2015-2017 to ease the administrative and regulatory burden’ (para. 6). In general see Somek, A., ‘Delegation and Authority: Authoritarian Liberalism Today’, 21 ELJ (2015) p. 340 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at p. 342-3.

³⁶ Amtenbrink, F. and de Haan, J., ‘Economic governance in the European Union: Fiscal policy discipline versus flexibility’, 40 CMLR (2003) p. 1075 at pp. 1081-1085 Google Scholar.

³⁷ Communication from the Commission, supra n. 28, at p. 5-7.

³⁸ As is well known on the basis of this rule some Commission proposals can be rejected by the Council only with a certain majority: see Art. 4(2), (3) and (6), Reg. No. 1173/11; Art. 6(2), Reg. No. 1466/97; Art. 10(4), Reg. No. 1176/11; Art. 3(3), Reg. No. 1174/11; Art. 14(1) and (4), Reg. No. 472/13; Art. 7 Fiscal Compact.

³⁹ Craig, P., ‘Economic Governance and the Euro Crisis: Constitutional Architecture and Constitutional Implications’, in M Adams et al. (eds.), The Constitutionalization of European Budgetary Constraints (Hart Publishing 2014) p. 19 Google Scholar at p. 37.

⁴⁰ M. Dawson, New Governance in the EU after the Euro Crisis: Retired or Re-born?, EUI WP, AEL 2015/01; Armstrong, supra n. 1, at p. 614, maintains that the specific recommendation in Art. 121(2) TFEU has an almost legislative nature, as the non-compliance of the State can trigger a complex path culminating ultimately in the application of sanctions. However, little is said about the legal effectiveness of such acts.

⁴¹ See Baraggia, A., ‘Conditionality Measures within the Euro Area Crisis: A Challenge to the Democratic Principle?’, 4 Cambridge Journal of International and Comparative Law (2015) p. 268 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Tuori and Tuori, supra n. 1, p. 89-101.

⁴² Ioannidis, M., ‘EU Financial Assistance Conditionality after “Two Pack”’, 74 Zeitschrift für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (2014) p. 61 at pp. 76-88 Google Scholar.

⁴³ Ioannidis, supra n. 42, at p. 82.

⁴⁴ For example Martinico, G., ‘EU Crisis and Constitutional Mutations: A Review Article’, 165 Rev. Estudios Politicos (2014) p. 247-280 Google Scholar; Chalmers, D., ‘The European Redistributive State and the Need for a European Law of Struggle’, 18 ELJ (2012) p. 667-693 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; M.P. Maduro, A New Governance for the European Union and the Euro: Democracy and Justice, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies Policy Paper No. 2012/11.

⁴⁵ Fabbrini, F., ‘The Euro-Crisis and the Courts: Judicial Review and the Political Process in Comparative Perspective’, 32 Berkeley Jnl International Law (2014) p. 64123 Google Scholar, at p. 110-115; Lenaerts, supra n. 28, at p. 753-769; Chiti, E. and Teixeira, P.G., ‘The Constitutional Implications of the European Responses to the Financial and Public Debt Crisis’, 50 CMLR (2013) p. 683 Google Scholar at p. 685-690; Puetter, U., ‘Europe’s deliberative intergovernmentalism: the role of the Council and European Council in EU economic governance’, 19 JEPP (2012) p. 161 Google Scholar.

⁴⁶ J.-P. Keppenne, ‘Institutional report’, in U. Neergaard et al. (eds), The Economic and Monetary Union: Constitutional and Institutional Aspects of the Economic Governance within the EU (The XXVI FIDE Congress in Copenhagen, 2014) (DJØF Publishing 2014) p. 179 at pp. 201-207.

⁴⁷ For example see A.J. Menéndez, ‘The Existential Crisis of the European Union’, 14 German Law Journal (2013) p. 453 at p. 515-517 and Armstrong, supra n. 26, p. 65-83.

⁴⁸ C. Joerges, Europe’s Economic Constitution in Crisis and the Emergence of a New Constitutional Constellation, ZenTra Working Paper in Transnational Studies No. 06/2012; more in general on this issue see the essays collected in P. Minkkinen et al. (eds.), The Contemporary Relevance of Carl Schmitt (Routledge 2015).

⁴⁹ See 3 ELJ (2015) and specifically the contribution of Somek, supra n. 35.

⁵⁰ Mezzadra, S., ‘Seizing Europe. Crisis management, constitutional transformations, constituent movements’, in O.G. Agustin and C. Idese (eds.), Post-crisis Perspectives. The Common and its Powers (Peter Lang Verlag 2013) p. 99-118 Google Scholar.

⁵¹ Tan, C., Governance through Development: Poverty Reduction Strategies, International Law and the Disciplining of Third World States (Routledge 2011)Google Scholar; Fougner, T., ‘Neoliberal Governance of States: The Role of Competitiveness Indexing and Country Benchmarking’, 37 Millennium (2008) p. 303-326 Google Scholar ff.

⁵² For example see Oberndorfer, L., ‘A New Economic Governance through Secondary Legislation? Analysis and Constitutional Assessment: From New Constitutionalism, via Authoritarian Constitutionalism to Progressive Constitutionalism’, in N. Bruun et al. (eds.), The Economic and Financial Crisis and Collective Labour Law in Europe (Hart Publishing 2014) p. 25-54 Google Scholar; Merlingen, M., ‘Foucault and World Politics: Promises and Challenges of Extending Governmentality Theory to the European and Beyond’, 35 Millennium (2006) p. 181-196 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Haahr, supra n. 22, p. 209-230; Gill, S., ‘European Governance and New Constitutionalism: Economic and Monetary Union and Alternatives to Disciplinary Neoliberalism in Europe’, 3 New Political Economy (1988) p. 5-26 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁵³ Foucault, M., Security, Territory, Population. Lectures at the Collège de France 1977–78 (Palgrave Macmillan 2007)Google Scholar chs. 6-8; M. Foucault, Omnes et Singulatim: Towards a Criticism of ‘Political Reason’, The Tanner Lectures On Human Values 1979/1980, <tannerlectures.utah.edu/_documents/a-to-z/f/foucault81.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁵⁴ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 148.

⁵⁵ See, for an overview, B. Golder, ‘Foucault and the Genealogy of Pastoral Power’, 10 Radical Philosophy Review (2007) p. 157-176.

⁵⁶ It is useful to emphasise that comparing the States in economic difficulty to sheep seems somewhat better than comparing them to swine (P.I.I.G.S.).

⁵⁷ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 181.

⁵⁸ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 181. In more analytical terms see M. Foucault, On the Government of the Living. Lectures at the Collège de France 1979-80 (Palgrave Macmillan 2014) ch. 12.

⁵⁹ Foucault 2014, supra n. 58, at p. 229.

⁶⁰ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 174.

⁶¹ An argument quite close to this one has already been proposed by Joseph Weiler when, referring to European constitutionalism, he tells a parable whose conclusion is, amongst other things, that an act of submission can often be simultaneously an act of emancipation and liberation and that virtue is a habit of the soul and habits are installed by practice: J.H.H. Weiler, Federalism and Constitutionalism: Europe’s Sonderweg, <jeanmonnetprogram.org/archive/papers/00/001001.html>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁶² Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 174.

⁶³ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 173.

⁶⁴ Art 3 ff, Reg. No. 1176/11.

⁶⁵ The classes are: 1) No imbalance; 2) Imbalances, which require monitoring and policy action; 3) Imbalances, which require monitoring and decisive policy action; 4) Imbalances, which require specific monitoring and decisive policy action; 5) Excessive imbalances, which require specific monitoring and decisive policy action; 6) Excessive imbalances, which require decisive policy action and the activation of the Excessive Imbalance Procedure: <ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/economic_governance/macroeconomic_imbalance_procedure/mip_reports/index_en.htm>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁶⁶ Communication from the Commission, ‘Making the best use of flexibility within the existing rules of the stability and growth pact’, COM (2015) 12 final.

⁶⁷ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 178.

⁶⁸ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 172.

⁶⁹ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 169.

⁷⁰ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 172.

⁷¹ Arts 2-3, Reg. No. 1176/11.

⁷² Foucault talks about ‘sacrificial reversal’ to refer to the principle under which the pastor must be willing to die to save his flock (Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 170). In our context this principle is not applicable due to, amongst other things, the democratic structure of the State systems. This is a structure which calls for the political responsibility of those governing towards their citizens. On the lack of consideration of democracy in the thinking of Foucault, see B. De Giovanni, Alle origini della democrazia di massa. I filosofi e i giuristi [The origins of mass democracy. Philosophers and Lawyers] (Editoriale Scientifica 2013) p. 224 ff.

⁷³ For example Snell, J., ‘The Trilemma of European Economic and Monetary Integration, and Its Consequences’, 22 ELJ (2016) p. 157 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at p. 164-167; Dawson, M. and de Witte, F., ‘Constitutional Balance in the EU after the Euro-Crisis’, 76 MLR (2013) p. 817 CrossRefGoogle Scholar at p. 824-828.

⁷⁴ Foucault 2007, supra n. 53, at p. 275.

⁷⁵ See in general Oberndorfer, supra n. 52, at p. 37-38.

⁷⁶ Foucault, M., Discipline and Punish. The Birth of the Prison (Vintage Books 1995)Google Scholar especially the third part; Foucault, M., Psychiatric Power. Lectures at the Collège de France 1973-74 (Palgrave Macmillan 2006)Google Scholar, especially p. 39-92. For a different view see Gorski, P.S., The Disciplinary Revolution. Calvinism and the Rise of the State in Early Modern Europe (University of Chicago Press 2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

⁷⁷ Foucault 1995, supra n. 76, at p. 222.

⁷⁸ E.g. Deleuze, G., Foucault (University of Minnesota Press 2006) p. 43 Google Scholar.

⁷⁹ Foucault 1995, supra n. 76, at p. 180.

⁸⁰ For an overview see Canguilhem, G., The Normal and the Pathological (Zone Books 1991)Google Scholar.

⁸¹ Machery, P., De Canguilhem à Foucault, la force des normes (La fabrique editions 2009)Google Scholar, especially ch 5; for a more general view, see D. Loschak, ‘Droit, normalité et normalisation’, in Le droit en procès (Presses Universitaires de France 1983) p. 51-77.

⁸² Foucault 2006, supra n. 76, at p. 46-47.

⁸³ Documents available at <ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/assistance_eu_ms/intergovernmental_support/index_en.htm>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁸⁴ Memorandum on the economic and financial policies of 3 May 2010 (attached to the first adjustment programme for Greece), <ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2010/pdf/ocp61_en.pdf>, § 8, visited 1 October 2016.

⁸⁵ Ibid. § 13.

⁸⁶ Art. 7(8), Reg. No. 472/13. Previously, with reference to Greece, see the documents available at the following address: <ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/assistance_eu_ms/greek_loan_facility/index_en.htm>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁸⁷ Foucault 1995, supra n. 76, at p. 135-139 and p. 194; M. Foucault, Society Must Be Defended (Picador 2003) p. 23-43; M. Foucault, The History of Sexuality (Pantheon Books 1978) Part V.

⁸⁸ A. von Bogdandy and M. Goldmann, Sovereign Debt Restructurings as Exercises of International Public Authority: Towards a Decentralized Sovereign Insolvency Law, <www.ssrn.com>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁸⁹ Ioannidis, supra n. 42, at p. 91-94.

⁹⁰ See e.g. the Second Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece. Occasional Paper of the Commission, March 2012, where it is stated that ‘the ownership of the programme and all executive responsibilities in the programme implementation remain with the Greek Government’ (p. 123). See also C. Kilpatrick, ‘Are the Bailouts Immune to EU Social Challenge Because They Are Not EU Law?’, 10 EuConst (2014) p. 393 at p. 396.

⁹¹ E.g. Ioannidis, supra n. 42, at p. 103.

⁹² IMF, Strengthening Country Ownership of Fund-Supported Programs, 2001, p. 6, <www.imf.org/external/np/pdr/cond/2001/eng/strength/120501.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016.

⁹³ See, amongst others, IMF, supra n. 92, at p. 7 ff, as well as J.M. Boughton, Who’s in Charge? Ownership and Conditionality in IMF-Supported Programmes, International Monetary Fund WP/03/191; Ioannidis, supra n. 42, at p. 89-102.

⁹⁴ With reference to the IMF and the World Bank see Tan, supra n. 51, chs. 4 and 7.

⁹⁵ See e.g. ECJ 27 November 2012, Case C-370/12, Thomas Pringle v Government of Ireland, Ireland, The Attorney General, para. 135.

⁹⁶ In this sense, but following a different conceptuality see Ioannidis, supra n.42, at p. 96-98.

⁹⁷ Snell, supra n. 73, at p. 164-169.

⁹⁸ As already mentioned, however, the legal norms regarding the European semester allow the European Institutions to deal with almost every aspect of national policies. For all see Somek , supra n. 35, at p. 342-345; Dawson and de Witte, supra n. 73, at p. 824-828.

⁹⁹ Reg. No. 1176/11, recital 1.

¹⁰⁰ Supra n. 95, para. 135.

¹⁰¹ Reg. No. 1176/11.

¹⁰² Armstrong, supra n. 1, at p. 609-613.

¹⁰³ C. Joerges and S. Giubboni, Europe’s Crisis-Law and the Welfare State – A Critique, WP CSDLE ‘Massimo D’Antona’ INT 109/2014, p. 12; Scharpf, F.W., ‘After the Crash: A Perspective on Multilevel European Democracy’, 21 ELJ (2015) p. 384 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, at p. 393-394.

¹⁰⁴ L. Bazzicalupo, Il governo delle vite [The government of lives] (Bari 2006) ch. 2; H.M. Ingram and D.E. Mann, ‘Policy Failure: An Issue Deserving Analysis’, in H.M. Ingram and D.E. Mann (eds.), Why Policies Succeed or Fail (Sage Publications 1980) p. 11-32.

¹⁰⁵ Bazzicalupo, supra n. 104, at p. 46. In different terms see Armstrong, supra n. 26, at p. 76-77, which talks of ‘governance by markets’.

¹⁰⁶ Streeck, W., Buying Time. The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism (Verso 2014)Google Scholar ch. 2.

¹⁰⁷ Supra n. 95, para. 135.

¹⁰⁸ In general Armstrong, supra n. 19, at p. 179-214; M. Dawson, supra n. 40.

¹⁰⁹ Foucault 2014, supra n. 57, at p. 230.

¹¹⁰ Foucault 2014, supra n. 57, at p. 178-179.

¹¹¹ In this regard see the Opinion of A.G. Wathelet, ECJ 21 April 2016, Joined Cases C-105/15P to C-109/15P, Mallis and Malli v Commission and ECB, paras. 84-89. In literature see Kilpatrick, supra n. 90, at p. 407-416; Baraggia, supra n. 41, at p. 276-277.

¹¹² Even more so for the formulation of conditionality: in general see Ioannidis, supra n. 42, at p. 94-96.

¹¹³ L. Bazzicalupo, ‘Le mobili linee di confine nella normatività sociale e la indeterminatezza delle procedure’ [The blurred borderlines of social normativity and the indeterminate nature of procedures], in A. Tucci (ed) Disaggregazioni. Forme e spazi di governance [Disaggregations. Forms and spaces of governance] (Mimesis 2013) p. 29-46.

¹¹⁴ Weiler, J.H.H., ‘Editorial: Integration Through Fear’, 23 European Journal of International Law (2012) p. 1-5 Google Scholar.

¹¹⁵ This is true also in the States that receive financial aid, as was demonstrated by the Greek referendum in 2015 that saw almost 40% of voters in favour of the adjustment programme.

¹¹⁶ Fitoussi, J.-P. and Saraceno, F., ‘European economic governance: the Berlin–Washington Consensus’, 37 Cambridge Journal of Economics (2013) p. 479-496 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹¹⁷ See e.g. the declaration of the Eurosummit of 12 July 2015 (SN 4070/15).

¹¹⁸ ‘Voice is the mechanism of intraorganizational correction and recuperation’: Weiler, supra n. 9, at p. 2411, and more in general Hirschman, A.O., Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States (Harvard University Press 1970)Google Scholar.

¹¹⁹ Craig, supra n. 39, at p. 28-30, who underlines the ‘shift from legislation to contract’ in this area.

¹²⁰ Dawson, M. and de Witte, F., ‘From Balance to Conflict: A New Constitution for the EU’, 22 ELJ (2015) p. 204-222 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹²¹ Art. 126(10) TFEU; Armstrong, supra n. 1, at p. 604.

¹²² Reg. No. 1173/11.

¹²³ The Fiscal Compact foresees specific competences of the ECJ only in case of failed compliance on the part of the States with Art. 3(2) of the Treaty itself (Art. 8). In prevailing opinion, the Court does not have the competence in the case of a concrete violation of the budgetary rules. For this, see R. Dehousse, ‘The “Fiscal Compact”: legal uncertainty and political ambiguity’, in 33 Policy Brief (2012), available also at <www.institutdelors.eu/media/fiscalpact_r.dehousse_ne_feb2012.pdf?pdf=ok>, visited 1 October 2016.

¹²⁴ M. Everson, ‘The Fault of (European) Law in (Political and Social) Economic Crisis’, 24 Law and Critique (2013) p. 107-129.

¹²⁵ C. Joerges previously cited in n. 10; Maduro, supra n. 18, chs. 4 and 5.

¹²⁶ F. Fabbrini, ‘States’ Equality v States’ Power: the Euro-crisis, Inter-state Relations and the Paradox of Domination’, 17 Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies (2015) p. 3-35.

¹²⁷ Streeck, supra n. 106, ch. 2.

¹²⁸ E.g. Kilpatrick, C., ‘On the Rule of Law and Economic Emergency: The Degradation of Basic Legal Values in Europe’s Bailouts’, 35 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2015) p. 325-353 CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

¹²⁹ Tuori, supra n. 28, at p. 33-35; Armstrong, supra n. 1, at p. 609-612.

¹³⁰ V. Skouris, The Court of Justice and the Financial Crisis: New Treaties, New Competences, Future Prospects, <www.europeanlawinstitute.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/p_eli/General_Assembly/Keynote_Skouris__Vassilios.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016.

¹³¹ ECJ 26 June 2014, Case C-264/12, Sindicato Nacional dos Profissionais de Seguros e Afins v Fidelidade Mundial - Companhia de Seguros, para. 19.

¹³² ECJ 21 October 2014, Case C-665, Sindicato Nacional dos Profissionais de Seguros e Afins v Via Directa - Companhia de Seguros SA; ECJ 7 March 2013, Case C-128/12, Sindicato dos Bancários do Norte and Others v BPN - Banco Português de Negócios SA.

¹³³ Salomon, M.E., ‘Of Austerity, Human Rights and International Institutions’, 21 ELJ (2015) p. 521-545 CrossRefGoogle Scholar; G. Katrougalos, ‘The Greek Austerity Measures: Violations of Socio-Economic Rights’, I.Connect, 29 January 2013, <www.iconnectblog.com/2013/01/the-greek-austerity-measures-violations-of-socio-economic-rights>, visited 1 October 2016.

¹³⁴ See Opinion of A.G. Wathelet, supra n. 111, paras. 92-98. In general, see Lenaerts, supra n. 28, at p. 759, with a further bibliography; Kilpatrick, supra n. 90, at p. 403.

¹³⁵ See the essays collected in C. Kilpatrick and B. de Witte (eds.), Social Rights in Times of Crisis in the Eurozone, EUI Working Papers, Law, 2014/05.

¹³⁶ This is clear, for example, in some sentences of the Greek State Council that, on the basis of the principle of proportionality, considered a series of rather unfavourable measures for the implementation of the first Memorandum regarding pensions and the salaries of public employees as lawful in consideration of the serious crisis and the consequent prevalence of national and European public interest. See, for example, decision 668/2012: E. Psychogiopoulou, ‘Welfare Rights in Crisis in Greece: The Role of Fundamental Rights Challenges’ and M. Yannakourou, ‘Challenging austerity measures affecting work rights at domestic and international level. The case of Greece’, both in Kilpatrick and de Witte, supra n. 135, respectively at p. 5 ff and p. 19 ff; C. Akrivopoulou, ‘Facing l’etat d’exception: The Greek Crisis Jurisprudence’, I.Connect, 11 July 2013, <www.iconnectblog.com/2013/07/facing-letat-dexception-the-greek-crisis-jurisprudence>, visited 1 October 2016.

¹³⁷ Baraggia, supra n. 41, at p. 284-286; C. Fasone, Constitutional Courts Facing the Euro Crisis. Italy, Portugal and Spain in a Comparative Perspective, EUI Working Paper, MWP 2014/25, p. 24-30; M. Nogueira de Brito, ‘Putting Social Rights in Brackets? The Portuguese Experience with Welfare Challenges in Times of Crisis’, J. Gomes, ‘Social Rights in Crisis in the Eurozone. Work Rights in Portugal’ and R. Cisotta and D. Gallo, ‘The Portuguese Constitutional Court Case Law on Austerity Measures: A Reappraisal’ all in Kilpatrick and de Witte, supra n. 135, respectively at p. 57, p. 78 and p. 85.

¹³⁸ Ruling of the Portuguese Constitutional Court 187 of April 2013, annulling some austerity measures of the 2013 Budget Act: see Fasone, supra n. 137, at p. 27-28; Coelho, G. and de Sousa, P.C., ‘La Morte Dei Mille Tagli’, 139(3) Giornale di diritto del lavoro e delle relazioni industriali (2013) p. 527 Google Scholar.

¹³⁹ The Economic Adjustment Programme for Portugal. Eighth and Ninth Review. Occasional Papers 164, European Commission, November 2013, § 6 and § 90 (p. 44), <ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2013/pdf/ocp164_en.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016.

¹⁴⁰ Ibid. at para. 88 (p. 43).

¹⁴¹ Ibid. at para. 30 (p. 20) and para. 88 (p. 43).

¹⁴² ‘Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the 2015 National Reform Programme of Italy and delivering a Council opinion on the 2015 Stability Programme of Italy’, COM(2015) 262 final, § 9 and 10 respectively, <ec.europa.eu/europe2020/pdf/csr2015/csr2015_italy_it.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016. Along the same lines, see Recommendation of the Council on the 2015 Italian national reform programme.

¹⁴³ The reactions are available respectively at <www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2015/06/11/supreme-court-orders-greece-to-reverse-2012-pension-cuts-as-unconstitutional> and <www.latribune.fr/economie/union-europeenne/grece-les-coupes-dans-les-retraites-jugees-inconstitutionnelles-483130.html>, both visited 1 October 2016.

¹⁴⁴ Eurosummit declaration of 12 July 2015, p. 3.

¹⁴⁵ The Report is available at <ec.europa.eu/priorities/economic-monetary-union/docs/5-presidents-report_en.pdf>, visited 1 October 2016.

¹⁴⁶ Ibid. at p. 8. See also Commission, ‘Recommendation for a Council Recommendation on the establishment of National Competitiveness Boards within the Euro Area’, COM (2015) 601 final.

¹⁴⁷ Ibid. at p. 14.

¹⁴⁸ Ibid. at p. 23.

¹⁴⁹ Commission Decision (EU) 2015/1937 of 21 October 2015 establishing an independent advisory European Fiscal Board.

¹⁵⁰ Streeck, supra n. 106, ch. 4.

¹⁵¹ E.g. Scharpf, supra n. 103, at p. 400.