Abstract

United Europe was born as a construction entrusted with the anchorage of the Member States to capitalism, thus representing an intensifier of neoliberal thought and practice. Mainly, this result has been achieved through a sort of market of reforms, i.e. through the concession of financial assistance as a counterpart for the acceptance of the neoliberal orthodoxy, in line with what happened with the distribution of the funds related to the Marshall plan. The same scheme can be observed in connection with the enlargement of the European construction to the South and East, with the distribution of the cohesion funds, as well with the ongoing restructuring of sovereign debts.