Abstract

By reviewing the last ten years of European Union (EU) studies, the present contribution sheds light on the recent evolution of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis of 2008. The essay focuses on three main components of the EMU that affect, among others, social and employment policy in the Member States (MS): the assets purchase programmes at the core of the European monetary policy; the financial assistance mechanisms (part of the EU economic and fiscal policy); and the economic coordination framework provided by the European Semester. The article assesses how much and why they have evolved over the years. While the debate on both the direction of change and its main determinants is still open, ten years of EU reforms have provided evidence of the gradual change of the EU governance – through an institutional bricolage – and have contributed to outline the role of ideas, discourses and learning.