‘There's a Brand New Talk, but it's Not Very Clear’: Can the Contemporary EU Really be Characterized as Ordoliberal?

Paul James Cardwell; Holly Snaith

doi:10.1111/jcms.12706

‘There's a Brand New Talk, but it's Not Very Clear’: Can the Contemporary EU Really be Characterized as Ordoliberal?

Paul James Cardwell^*, Holly Snaith

^*Corresponding author for this work

Laws

University of Copenhagen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Ordoliberalism has undergone a dramatic resurgence as a characterization of the contemporary EU and its economic dimensions. Commentators have pointed to the ‘ordoliberalization’ of EU economic policy with Germany at its core, albeit with the latter taking the role of a ‘reluctant hegemon’. Perhaps as a result of this pervasive influence, some have claimed that the EU is itself ordoliberal, resting on a particular understanding of the relationship between ordoliberalism and an ‘economic constitution’. For this claim to be substantiated, the characterization of ordoliberalism needs to persist across time and the EU's law and policy-making spaces. In this article, we examine this proposition, and argue that the influence of ordoliberalism can help a richer understanding of the contemporary EU beyond the confines of the economic constitution and into its evolving legal system(s).

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1053-1069
Number of pages	17
Journal	JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES
Volume	56
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12706
Publication status	Published - Jul 2018

Keywords

EU law
European Union
Germany
integration
ordoliberalism

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10.1111/jcms.12706

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‘There's a Brand New Talk, but it's Not Very Clear’: Can the Contemporary EU Really be Characterized as Ordoliberal?

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